Possession
by LadyPhenix
Summary: Mona led a relatively normal life: she was happy, had her dream job, had friends. Until one fateful day, a storm of a century hit in the form of a child, and it changes Mona's life for good. Mona survived the attack, but now can she live with what she's become? Can she accept it? Will she rise to her great destiny? Mona's fight against herself and evil has only begun.
1. Chapter 1

Mona wipes her brow with the back of her hand: it comes away slick with sweat. The class was hard work- then again, it always is. She sits down on the practice room floor with the other dancers, and begins to take off her Pointe shoes. Other girls around her untie the ribbons around their ankles while they lean against the mirrors on the walls. Clara bounds over like a graceful gazelle and deposits herself next to Mona. Mona smiles kindly at her and keeps taking her shoes off.

"Are you auditioning for Sleeping Beauty?" Clara asks her with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"I've seriously thought about it. I think I will try to audition for the lead…Are you?" Mona looks over at her long time competition and friend.

Clara's expression is hard to read. Her face gives away nothing as she ponders her answer. Mona waits patiently for her friend to answer. The two had been dancing together since they were ten. By that point Mona had already been dancing for six years, and Clara had been dancing for four. Both women are skilled in what they do; though, Mona is more skilled at dancing in a tutu than Clara.

"I've been practicing the role of Aurora since I found out two months ago that we would be showing it," Clara finally states with a smug smile upon her round face.

"Months?" Mona asks with a hint of worry in her voice. "They only just announced it."

Clara rubs her newly released foot and smiled over at Mona. "That's what being 'friends' with the director gets you. Early information." Clara winks at Mona before she stands up and sashays from the room.

Mona stares after her friend. iJust what exactly does she mean by "friends"?/i Mona can't help but glare after her friend. Mona wouldn't put it past Clara to do anything to get ahead. Mona actually envies Clara for being able to put herself out there like that.

With a sigh, Mona slips her shoes on and stands up from the floor. Her feet are going to kill her tomorrow if she doesn't get the soaked in Epsom salt tonight. Mona is the last one out of the studio she notices as she grabs her red leather weekender from the lockers. iPity,/i she thinks, iit would have been nice to walk home with someone./i Mona steps outside and instantly wishes she would have remembered her umbrella: it looks like it's going to rain. iFunny, the news didn't say anything about rain today./i

The wind whips Mona's relaxed hair out of her bun and around her face harshly. It splices her vision into pieces when it passes in front of her eyes. The temperature just dropped twenty degrees in the last hour and the air chills her honey colored skin; clouds gather overhead threatening to drop rain on her any moment now. Mona pulls her sweater tighter against herself and hunkers down. i Damn it, /i she thinks, iI should have worn a jacket./i The sky booms over head and she jumps in surprise. Normally, Mona loves storms but this one just doesn't feel right. There's some sort of a charge in the air: she doesn't like it. Mona looks around her at the abandoned street and turns her iPod up louder to i I Vampiri/i, one of her favorite reggae songs, and quickly starts walking back to her apartment. She supposes that most people probably hurried in doors before the storm hit. Mona can feel the next bout of thunder rumble through her chest and under her feet. She turns her iPod down and takes one of the ear buds out to listen around her. She stops and glances up at the sky just as rain starts to fall down.

"Fuck," she sighs exasperatedly. "There goes my hair."

She walks quicker, shoving her iPod deeper in her pocket: she would be beyond angry if it got wet and stopped working. Abruptly Mona stops when she hears crying. She turns the sound off and listens intently: the only sounds she can here is her own breathing and the sound of rain hitting the pavement.

"Hello?" Mona calls out. She tilts her head and her eyes scan the street to see the source of the crying.

Hearing nothing, she walks down the alley. Mona stops just at the opening of it: something feels off about it. She's strangely uncomfortable and the hairs on the back of her neck are standing up. i Stop being so damn childish. There is nothing wrong. This is the quickest way home./i Mona gets half way down the alley before she hears the crying again. She spins around when a couple of garbage cans get knocked around, and sees a young girl standing there. She couldn't be more than seven, Mona suspects. Her hair is blonde and curled at the ends where they aren't plastered to her face. Her cheeks are a bright pink and they make her look like a painted China doll.

"I can't find my mom," she cries, rubbing her face with her balled up fists.

"Kid what are you doing down here? Don't you know it's dangerous for you to be out here? Come on, I'll take you to the police station."

Mona reaches out for the girl to take her hand. The young girl looks at Mona skeptically.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to take you to the police so they can help you find your mom…My name's Mona. What's yours?" Mona smiles.

"Patricia."

"Hi, Patricia. Let's get out of the rain okay? The police station is just over there and they'll help us."

When Patricia nods Mona takes her hand and starts to walk out of the alley. Mona is jerked to a stop when the little girl doesn't move. Mona turns around and look at her. A scream gets caught in her throat: The little girl before her is now covered in blood: it sticks her blond hair to her head. Patricia's once dull teeth are now sharp points, and poke out between her cracked lips, her nails have now grown four inches to jagged points. Mona's breathing all but stops, her heart thuds loudly in her ears. Patricia's nails dig sharply into Mona's arm, blood spills from the wounds. Mona hisses in pain and tries desperately to drag her hand from Patricia's. She grips Mona's hand tighter and Mona cries out as one of her long fingers break.

"I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee won't my mommy be so proud of me," Patricia jerks Mona along as she sings, causing her to fall to the ground.

i What the hell is going on?/i

"I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee won't my mommy be so proud of me. Ouch she stung me!"

One more of Mona's fingers break and she lets out a scream. iDamn it fight back! /iMona kicks Patricia's leg hard and nearly vomits when she sees a bone jut out. Patricia doesn't notice and simply keeps walking further down the alley.

"I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee. Won't my mama be so proud of me," Patricia grips Mona's hand tighter and she can feel her wrist snap. Mona's scream is drowned out by the thunder. "I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee. Ew! What a mess!" Patricia digs her nails in harder and more of Mona's blood falls on to the street. Mona kicks and hits at her with all her might, yet despite her efforts Patricia still pulls her along the alley.

Mona looks around for anyone to help her. The ally is totally empty in either direction. Mona grips Patricia's wrist and tries desperately to pry the girls hand away. Tears roll from Mona's amber eyes. Pain shoots up her arm as Patricia drags her up steps. Mona's head smacks into one, causing her to black out for a few seconds. As soon as Mona's feet cross the threshold, the heavy metal doors slam shut, muffling the sound of the rain. Once inside the musty building, Patricia throws Mona against a pillar and she falls to the floor. Every time Mona moves pain shoots through her.

"I'm lickin up my baby bumblebee won't my mama be so proud of me," Patricia sings as she licks the blood from her nails. "I'm lickin up my baby bumblebee. Ich! I feel sick." She giggles when Mona moans in pain. "You're for my mama," she tells her happily.


	2. Chapter 2

Mona looks around her surroundings; the walls are painted with some kind of symbols. Mona doesn't recognize them as any she has seen before. There are no windows and only the one metal door and the child stands in the path to it. In the center of the room a throne like chair sits: it is made of black wood, at least, it looks like black wood until Mona really looks at it. The chair is made of bones, some don't even look like they belong to humans or animals: they're twisted, spiked, bent, and jagged. Mona's hand throbs painfully and little blotches of light dance in front of her eyes. She looks down at her arm and notices black shapes starting to take shape: they swirl and twist, making her dizzier than she already is. iI'm dreaming. That's what this is. It's just a dream./i

Patricia walks around the throne chanting lowly under her breath. A tormented smile is stretched across her corpse like skin.

"Wh-What do you want?" Mona sobs out.

"You're so silly!" Patricia giggles before she continues. "You're a present for my mama! She'll be so proud of me for bringing you."

Mona attempts to stand up, only to fall back down again. Blood runs down the arm that she cradles to her chest. Finally Mona manages to push herself up the pillar: her breathing gets even heavier with the effort. When the girl turns her back to Mona, she makes a break for the door. Pain shoots through her arm with every jolting step. Mona grips the door handle and begins to pull the door open. An odd pulling sensation pulls her stomach backwards. It's almost as if she has been hooked through her belly button. With a flick, she is ripped harshly away from the door and thrown into the chair in the middle of the room. A spiked bone stabs her in her left side, ripping a scream from her. Mona pulls herself forward and bile rises in her throat when she feels the bone slide out of her. Like putty, she slides to the floor. Her head feels heavy and dizzy: Mona can barely lift it.

"Naughty, naughty little bumblebee. Trying to escape before momma can get here."

Mona looks up at the ceiling and sees more of the strange symbols written; something wet smacks into her forehead. Taking her good hand, Mona wipes fingers at it, and feels it smear on her head. Pulling her fingers in front of her eyes she notices what it is: blood. Mona's scream echoes throughout the empty building. A quiet chanting fills her ears. _What the hell is this?_ Slowly, Mona's scream turns into whimpers.

A burning starts in Mona's arm causing her to scream out in pain. It feels as if someone has just put it in boiling water. It starts at her fingertips and races up to her shoulder. Another burning pain starts on her left side at her belly button and wraps down her left hip and back up around her right hip and up under your breasts before reaching the tops of them. Mona screams louder and squirms on the floor.

What once was Patricia chants slowly and sadistically, the words fill Mona's ears like slime. The hair stands up on the back of her neck like the hands of Nazis hailing Hitler. Her muscles are so tense a single touch might shatter them. In all her years of suffering for dance, her body has never hurt this badly. Every fiber of her being tells you to run, but her legs won't move and her head won't clear. Mona's neurons fire faster than they've ever fired before, but the signal seems to be lost in translation.

The bloody symbols on the wall start to change and swirl, twisting and curling about until they're not even recognizable: not that they were in the first place. Patricia starts to float inches off the floor, her toes pointed to the ground like there are magnets in the tips of them. Her arms stretch out to either side of her like Jesus on the cross. Slowly, starting in the middle of her hands, a hole appears. It widens and gapes open and seems as deep as a black hole in the deep recesses of space.

Mona's stomach churns and twists violently. She tries to let out a scream when two black eyes appear in the holes of the girl's hands, but her throat feels like she's got thick vomit in it, making her choke. It's getting harder and harder for Mona to breathe. She begins looking desperately around the room for a means of escape, or something to help her. The smell of rotting meat fills her nose as she breathes in. A low and deep rumble starts to fill Mona's ears. As it grows louder, it starts to shake her bones like a baby's rattle: then she realizes it's coming from below the earth. The floor beneath her quakes and the floor cracks. Blood from Mona's wounds pools around her and some of it seeps through the cracks and down into the unknown. Mona was not even aware she had this much blood. The burning on her back and stomach gets worse with each breath she struggles to take. She can't even think to begin to try and describe what it feels like. Mona has never experienced this kind of pain before.

An image of her grandmother coming to visit pops in her head. Why now, Mona doesn't know. It was winter and the snow fell like soft cotton from the sky. Mona sat on the screened in porch watching the snow fall. Her grandmother walked in from out of the woods, yet know snow covered her. She smiled down at Mona and touched her hair. "You have a great destiny before you, Mona," she whispered in Mona's ear after she kissed her cheek.

Mona smiles at the memory, briefly losing herself in it. It was a welcome escape from the nightmare going on around her. Mona turned her head and looked down her arm at her fingers. There, on her sleeve, was a snow flake.

The little girls voice changes into a gravely whisper, like that of a chain smoker. Then, what seems like a thousand voices joins in with her chanting. Mona can't make out the words because of a horrid ringing in her ears. She rolls onto her back and her body stiffens as if it's a shirt with to much starch, her muscles ach with the tightening and strain of holding them. Mona just wants it to stop! She would give anything to make this pain go away.

Mona lets another scream rip its way out of her throat, and into the room. Her lungs burn and she realizes she's been holding her breath. Mona's mouth feels dry and tastes strongly of blood. Her head slams back into the cement floor, causing lights to dance rapidly in front of her eyes for minutes. Or was it seconds? Mona can't tell: time has either slowed or sped up. Her ability to think consciously and clearly has long since been drained out with her blood, which now pools on the floor beneath her and coats her hair and clothing.

Mona's heart pounds loudly in hers ears, like the bass drum at a club, and beats fast and wildly against her chest cavity. She fears it will explode like a cell filled with too much saline. Debris floats and crashes down from the ceiling all around her. The smell of heat, blood, and death fills her nose with its thickness. Mona's lungs burn with each breath, her eyes fight with each blink, and her heart pains itself with each thud. That's it: she's going to die slowly and painfully. It's only a matter of minutes now. Mona screams in a voice that is not your own. It's raspier and shriekier than it normally is. Her bones feel like they're breaking and reshaping inside her body, her muscles feel torn and sliced. Mona's body starts to spasm more violently than a grand mal seizure.

A dark, twisted, and terrifying voice fills Mona's head. "Give yourself to me. Let yourself go. Stop fighting me; this will go so much easier if you stop resisting me. You'll like the power I'm going to give to you. People will bow at your feet like dogs," it whispers sadistically in her head.

Mona clenches her jaw tighter and feels teeth and her jaw crack under the pressure.

"You will be worshiped as a Goddess. Don't you want that? To have that little bitch Clara worship the ground your very feet walk on?" How does it know who Clara was? "Wouldn't it feel amazing to have everything you have ever dreamed of wanting handed to you on a golden platter? Think about it, Mona," her name slides off its tongue like an eel through water. Mona screams "no" so loudly, she can feel a blood vessel pop in her throat. "You stupid little bitch! You'll suffer now more than you have ever suffered in your entire puny little existence!"

It feels like someone is carving designs on her back and stomach, following the same burning pattern as before. Mona screams until nothing comes out of her anymore. Mona still continues to try to scream though. Mona's muscles contract tighter than before, until her back is bowed off the floor and the only thing touching are her heels and the top of her head. Mona's head swims with pain and fear: she can't decide which is more over powering. Mona's throat starts to swell shut and the levels of her panic rise up like the Statue of Liberty. She struggles to recite the Lord's Prayer in her head. How did it start out? Mona can't think straight long enough to utter the first two words. What were they?!

"T-th-the L-….L-or-d," her voice cracks and whispers despite her throat and lungs strong protest. Mona's throat clamps shut before she can even think of the next word.

Mona's body slams harshly back into the floor. Her head pounds and throbs with every pump of her blood. Her screams come louder now; she can feel something clawing at the back of her mind: it feels like a rat is trying to eat its way through her skull, and into her brain. The urge to just lie back and let herself go is overwhelming: Mona fights it hard.

"Give it up, Mona!" the voice croons in her head. "Just let it go. You can stop the pain. Just give in to me. Let me make you a goddess."

Mona can't speak; she can't even shake her head. Her muscles are so tense they shake violently. Tears stream down her face as she silently cries. Mona's sobs are quiet now, she's simply too exhausted to scream anymore.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" a deep, amused, male voice asks from the door.

A thousand voices scream viciously, and the little girl hisses and lunges towards him, her tiny lithe body flying through the air to try to collide with his chest. The little girl throws the man violently out of the doors: Mona can hear him hit the brick building across the alley. The doors slam shut once more.

Patricia comes over to Mona and picks her up by her throat. Patricia's nails dig into Mona's skin, and what little blood she has left flows down them. Patricia starts chanting lowly in her throat. Mona looks down into her face, the black eyes are hard to look into. Mona's eyes focus and un-focus on her surroundings. She's certain it's because of the blood she's lost.

Something slams into the back of the little girls head, breaking her focus. She drops Mona into a heap on the floor and spins around on the attacker.

"That was very rude. Literally throwing my ass out into the rain. It is not very becoming of a young lady. Didn't your mother teach you better?" The girl lunges at him. She claws at his face, neck, and chest. "Someone needs a bit of a time-out," he says as he fires a few bullets into her. Mona doesn't even know where he got the gun.

He drops the lifeless body to the floor, and goes quickly over to Mona. The letters on the wall swirl faster and faster about the room, and now a black hole starts opening above the throne.

"Because this is exactly what I wanted to do today," he mutters as he picks Mona up.

Mona let out a hoarse scream from the jostling he puts her through. When he starts running, she nearly blacks out from the pain. The outside world is in sight when something slams into the back of the man carrying you: he flies forward with you in his arms and lands harshly on top of you, causing you to scream again. Slowly he stands up and cracks his neck to the right.

"You can't stop this, iDante/i! She's already been chosen. She will be the end of you and your puny little existence," the, supposed to be dead, little girl looks at you. "Mother has specifically chosen her."

Mona blinks through the rain pouring down on her face. Dante has his hand on a sword hanging on his back. Without so much as a twitch, he draws the sword from its sheath and swings it in front of him. It takes a moment for Mona to register what has happened. The little girl cackles manically, at his miss. Instead of disappointment, a sly smile crosses the man's lips. Suddenly, Patricia falls in two separate pieces onto the wet pavement, and Mona's body relaxes.

What feels like an earthquake happens underneath her. In a matter of seconds she is scooped up into the man's arms and is being carried swiftly away from the collapsing building.

The last thing Mona sees before she passes out is the entire building being sucked into nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

An annoyingly bright ray of light forces its way into the dark and dingy room Mona is sleeping in. Her eyes force themselves open: the unforgiving light burns them harshly: they slowly look around the room, taking in her surroundings. The room is dark and messy, books and magazines are stacked haphazardly around the room. An inch of dust seems to cover everything, and cobwebs dangle down from the ceiling. The sound of her wheezing fills her ears. Weakly, Mona tries to sit up: that's when she notices the immense pains all throughout her body. Her head feels like it was hit by a semi, her ribs feel broken and bruised, and her throat tastes of blood and is extremely raw. Even her hair hurts.

"You should be sleeping," a man says quietly as he crosses the room to decapitate the ray of light.

Mona tries to ask him who he is, but her voice is lost in her throat. In the back of her mind she knows she should be at least concerned that she is in a strange place with a strange man. She should also be afraid of him.

"You overworked your vocal cords. I heard you screaming six blocks away, that's how I found you: I'm shocked the cops weren't called." He pulls a chair up to the side of the bed and sits down on it. "I'm Dante, your savior. No need to thank me, all part of the job description. Saving pretty dames that is. I hope you don't mind I took a look through the bag I found near you. It says your name is, Mona. I also took twenty bucks to buy pizza. I figure that's payment for saving you. I entrusted Trish with bringing things from your apartment," he continues on, but Mona is hardly paying attention to him.

She surveys him with open curiosity: Mona has never seen a man with silver hair or eyes quite that blue before. He smirks at her blush when her eyes stay on his for too long. He is quite a good-looking man: strong jaw, gorgeous cheekbones, a sexy-stubble, not to mention his bedroom eyes.

"I know, I'm irresistible, but try to focus. You won't be going back to your apartment for a while," he explains slowly, as if you can't understand him.

Mona gives him a "no shit" face, and wince at the pain.

He smirks and gives a half laugh. "You won't be making faces without pain for a while. You won't be moving without being in pain for a while either. Here." Dante hands Mona a couple of pills and a glass of what she sincerely hopes is water.

Mona pops the pills in her mouth, earning a stab of painful protest from her jaw, and drinks the pills down. Her throat feels tight when she swallows and she can taste the blood from it.

"You'll be bed ridden a while too. You went through a lot. Honestly, I'm surprised that," Dante trails off when he sees she has sunk back down into the pillows. He smiles, pulls the blankets up around her shoulders and takes a seat on the uncomfortable chair again.

_ Mona is slammed harshly against the wall of a dark cave. She turns her head sharply to the side, her neck straining from the extension of it. A woman with pitch-black skin leans in closely to her: her breath feels scalding against Mona's skin. Oddly, it smells sweet: lilacs, chocolate, mint, boiling sugar, and caramel. _

"_You stupid little worm. Do you really think that _**he**_ can keep you from me?" Her laugh echoes throughout the empty space in front of Mona. "Please, he's not even a pawn in this chess game I've started. You have no one to protect you. I will squash Dante like a bug. Under. My. Heels." Each word is accentuated by her tightening her grip on Mona's throat._

_The woman turns Mona's head back to face her. They're faces are millimeters apart. Her eyes are white as snow, her cheekbones jut out sharply two inches from her face: Mona could cut herself on them if she touched them. Her lips are thin and covered with cracks and are chapped so much they bleed. She digs her nails into Mona's neck, and she screams as blood splatters the woman's face._

"Mona! Wake up!"

Mona's eyes jerk open and she realizes she's screaming. Dante leans over her, his hands gripping the sides of her face. Mona's hands clutch his wrists, and her nails dig into his skin. A burning pain strikes her with every breath she takes.

"Jesus, baby, you're going to get the cops called on us. It was just a dream. Someone would have to be an idiot to try and hurt you here."

"She…She said," Mona struggles to get the words out of her raw throat.

"Who said? Sweets, it was a dream. Nothing more. A dream, that's it. Just try and calm down."

Another man walks in having heard the commotion. He has the same silver hair as Dante, the same eyes as well: only this new man's eyes are a little brighter. As Mona look at him, her vision gets blurry. Slowly, sleepily, Mona's eyes travel down the new man's body: something is wrong with his right arm.

"What did you do to her?"

"I did nothing to her. She had a nightmare, and freaked out. It is really not that strange seeing as how a demonic little shit tried to kill her. I think a freak out is expected," Dante explains as he looks at the new man.

He senses Mona's confusion and finally speaks directly to her, "My name is Nero. I'm a friend of Dante's."

Hoarsely, Mona whispers out her name. The action causes Nero to grimace. iDoes my voice really sound so awful?/i

Dante whistles. "You sound like a sixty year old woman who's been smoking all her life: it is not a pretty sound. I'll get something for that." Dante jumps up out of his seat and waltzes out of the door, closing it softly behind him.

Nero sits down in the chair Dante was just occupying: he looks at Mona with a sympathetic gaze. He sits there quietly for a few moments before he finally speaks to her.

"Trish got back with your things…I can bring them to you if you wish."

Mona nods her head and, followed by the wince that accompanies it, asks him, "How long have I been out?" The effort of speaking through the pain is enough to make her want to vomit.

"Three days. Wait, don't talk again." Nero gets up from his seat, walks over to an end table in the corner, and picks up a pad of paper and a pen. "Here, use this. Give your throat time to rest."

Mona takes the pad from him and nods her thanks.

_What...exactly happened?_

Nero reads the sentence out loud, scratches the back of his head, and finally tries to explain what happened. "You were attacked…but I think you already knew that. Basically, you pulled a stupid move, didn't listen to your instincts, and nearly got yourself made into a demonic vessel."

Mona blinks in shock as he finishes his explanation. She honestly doesn't really believe him: of course Mona believes in ghosts and spirits, but demons…that is a completely different thing. Nero watches her face carefully as she processes this all. Mona looks down at her hands and blanches at the bloody bandages on her arms. She swallows and looks back at Nero.

"You're not going to deny all this happened, or go insane are you?"

_No. I'm just…I honestly didn't think those things were real. I just thought that they were something the religious nuts made up to get you to go to church and be a good little believer…I'm not really sure if I'm an atheist anymore._

"I understand. I imagine this is a bit…much for you. I assume Dante has told you that you'll be staying here until we can figure out why it wanted you specifically."

Mona holds up her pad of paper, interrupting him: _I had a dream about her._

"Her? Her who?" Nero asks Mona with a confused look on his face.

_The…demon, I guess you could call her. In the first dream, she told me that Dante couldn't stop her. She told me that she would squash him like a bug. The second dream I had of her, she told me her name was Matrem. She also said that no one could keep me from her. I know you're not supposed to be able to feel pain in your dreams, but I did. When she was hurting me, I felt it. I could feel her in my head_.

Nero frowns and narrows his eyes when he finishes reading. Just as Nero starts to speak to Mona again, Dante walks in the room. Nero stands up, grabs Dante by the collar and walks out of the room, leaving her alone and confused.

"Why did you save her?" Nero asks Dante, not bothering to keep his voice down so Mona can't hear.

"Uh…Why wouldn't I have? I saved her so Susie Sunshine wouldn't redecorate the place with her blood. Was that wrong?"

"She's dreaming about her Dante. This Matrem demon has a connection with her now. And where do you think this girl is going to lead her, Dante? Here."

Dante smiles. "Good, I hate having to go looking for trouble. It's much easier when it's delivered. Calm your tits: the bitch isn't coming back. I killed Demonic Shirley Temple remember?" Dante pats Nero's shoulder and starts to go back into your room.

"It knows your name, Dante." Nero looks sideways at Dante.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that," Dante says as he shuts the door behind him.

"You knew?!"


	4. Chapter 4

Hello guys! So if you see any p, /p, i, /i at the beginning of a sentence, it's because of the formatting. I have this up on Luna was well, so I have it formated for it.

* * *

A woman with long blonde hair, wearing all black, opens the door to Mona's room. Mona sits up slowly, propping herself up on her elbows. Mona eyes the blonde suspiciously as she approaches. She's tall and skinny- but muscled.

"My name is Trish. I believe Dante told you that I was getting your things?"

Taking advantage of finally being able to make small movements, Mona nods her head to signal her understanding. Trish drops a few black duffle bags beside the dresser. She motions to the chair in the corner and Mona nods that it's okay for her to sit.

"You look like you're feeling better. I popped in on you a few days after they brought you here. You looked like death."

Mona gives a smile since she can't laugh at her. She didn't have a doubt in her mind that she didn't look like death. She still felt like death. And every now and then she would catch Dante or Nero looking at her like she was a pitiful dying kitten.

_ I felt like death_, Mona writes down on her pad of paper.

"Still can't speak?" Trish picks up a magazine before sitting down.

_No. I sound awful when I try, and it hurts._

Trish looks up after a moment of reading her magazine and reads your message.

"I imagine so."

_Do you know when they'll let me take a shower? I smell disgusting and I feel disgusting._

"When you can stand on your own, I'd imagine. Have you tried yet?"

Mona shakes her head in response to Trish's question. Mona honestly didn't think that she could stand on her own. She still got dizzy from time to time when she moved to quickly. But she got even more dizzy when she thought about the crusted blood in her hair.

"Well, come on. We'll test out your legs," Trish says as she stands up, and pulls back Mona's blankets.

Mona slowly swings her legs around to the side of the bed and rests her feet on the cold wood floor. She never did ask which one of the boys changed her into a pair of boxers and a football jersey. She didn't want to think about which one of them saw her completely naked. Trish grabs Mona's elbows and gives her a pull as Mona makes to stand. Mona's knees wobble like Ariel's in The Little Mermaid.

"Whoa there, Bambi, easy. Just stand for a minute before you start to try and walk…Do you hurt at all?" Trish takes note of Mona's facial expression: she's thinking hard on her question.

After a few moments of extreme concentration on her pain levels, Mona shakes her head no. It's odd, Mona is so used to being in pain, so now it takes a moment to realize that she's not in any pain from standing.

"Okay, then we're going to take some steps and see how you handle that," Trish explains as she lets go of Mona's bruised elbows. She backs away from Mona, but still remains ready incase she falls.

With hesitation, Mona starts to move her legs. She winces at the movement of her stiff knees and hip joints. Mona gives a smile after she successfully stays upright after nearly toppling over.

Trish smiles with you. "Well, look at that. Okay, follow me to the bathroom. The boys are out, so you don't have to worry about anybody walking in on you. I'll grab your bags. You've got some great clothes by the way. Some of them aren't personally my style, I'm not a big fan of colors other than black, and red, but they're nice clothes."

Mona smiles and gives a nod to signal her thanks. Slowly, like a new fawn, Mona follows Trish into the bathroom. Mona feels like a turtle, with three bum legs, in molasses. She twists her mouth to the side and purses her lips in concentration as she walks. In the hallway, Mona gets a better look at her temporary abode.

There are a few skylights in the hallway: from the looks of it, it's dark and stormy outside. There are at least five more rooms off of the hallway: three on the right, and two on the left (including hers), and then one door at the very end of the hall. The walls are a light grey color, or perhaps they're actually white, just very dirty. The floors are dark wood, and are in need of polishing. At the nearest end of the hallway, it opens up into a loft area with a wide staircase in the middle leading to the first floor. Several fans litter the ceiling along with a few more skylights.

Trish leads Mona to the middle door on the right side of the hallway. She opens it to reveal a dingy looking bathroom. Mona gives a slight grimace at the state of it. It's easy to tell this is a man's bathroom: facial hair left in the sink, dirty clothes piled in the corner, dirty toilet bowl, toothpaste covered mirror, spiders in the corners, something questionable growing in the trashcan.

"I know, it's not healthy, but it will get you clean….or give you tetanus," Trish says as she sets Mona's bags down on the floor. She takes out Mona's shampoo and conditioner, then turns and shuts the door as she leaves.

Mona turns the shower on before she turns and looks at herself in the dirty mirror. Her face seems hollow somehow, and her eyes seem a bit darker than they were before. Carefully, she starts taking off the clothes she's in. Her muscles hurt with the activity she puts them through. Mona is perplexed at how she can put herself through rigorous training for ballet, yet now her muscles ache and protest loudly at the basic movements she's putting them through.

As cautiously as she can, she steps into the shower and under the spray. She hisses loudly when the water rushes over the cuts and bruises all over her body. She's not sure how long she stands under the spray of water before she reaches for her shampoo. Mona gives a whimper of pain when she finds the giant knot on the back of her head. It throbs painfully under her fingers, and she makes note to avoid that area in the future. The familiar scent of her shampoo makes her feel more relaxed than before.

At some point, Mona starts to examine her body: it doesn't look like hers anymore. It's covered in abrasions, bruises, and marks. A frown works its way upon her face as she continues to examine her body. Her eyes travel down to her abdomen: there's a three inch wide red streak starting from her bellybutton, then it wraps around her left hip. She loses sight of it around the side of her body, but then sees it trailing up on her right side and it goes all the way up around her right breast, and to her shoulder where it ends. Mona frowns at the strange looking mark: she scrubs at it, thinking it's just dried blood, but it stays firmly in place. Shaking her head she continues to wash herself. The water runs down her body and turns red when it hits the white of the tub. Mona has to wash her hair three times before the water runs clean.

Getting out of the shower proves trickier than she first thought. The slick bottom of the shower proves to be a difficult obstacle course. Hesitantly, she leans over the edge, grasps the sink, and uses it as a source of balance to step out of the shower. The shower certainly eased some of her aches and pains, not to mention it erased the spider-web feeling she had on her skin. Mona sighs and gently starts drying herself off; some spots more tender than others. Mona notices more bruises than she did while washing off.

With a great sigh, Mona pulls an oversized white hooded sweatshirt, that comes down to her lower thighs, out of her bag: it's one of her favorites that she owns. Now she's faced with a dilemma: she doesn't want anything rough fitting tightly on her legs, but she can't go around without pants on. Mona shifts things aside in her bag and digs deeper in it. With a smile of triumph, she pulls out a pair of ombre galaxy leggings and pink fuzzy socks. Embarrassingly, Mona has to sit on the toilet to get her leggings and socks on.

After she finishes dressing, she wipes condensation off of the mirror, and stares at her face again in the mirror. Something still looks off about her: she can't quite put her finger on what it is. Giving up on figuring out what exactly isn't right with her own reflection, Mona starts braiding her hair; she remembers when her grandmother used to do this for her. She loved braiding Mona's hair for her, and Mona loved having it done. There is no greater pleasure in this world than having someone brush or play with your hair. Out of the corner of her eye, something shiny catches Mona's attention. In the bottom of her bag, is her grandmother's rosary. Mona finishes her braid, and reaches down and picks up the rosary. She's never been very religious, not even when she was a child, but given the circumstances…Mona picks up the rosary , and slips it around her neck. She kept the rosary because it made her feel closer to her grandmother.

When Mona looks back to the mirror, she lets out a harsh scream. Looking back at her is Matrem bearing her teeth.


	5. Chapter 5

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Mona is certain she's going to emit a shriek similar to a tea kettle. The frustration she's feeling is indescribable. Once more she frantically writes down what she wants to say on her pad of paper, and thrusts it towards Dante, Nero, and Trish.

I am not crazy! I know what I saw dammit. It was not my reflection it was hers. Her face was on my body. /i

Dante looks at Mona with a skeptical face, Trish nods sympathetically, and Nero watches her suspiciously. Mona just wants to scream at them she's so angry.

Dante crosses his arms in front of his chest and stares at her. "You need to stop screaming. She can't hurt you if she's not in front of you."

That's easy for you to say.

Dante smiles a cockily at Mona. "That's right, it is easy for me to say. Wanna know why? Because I still have my voice, because I haven't screamed myself into losing it."

Mona glares heavily at Dante. She wants nothing more than to punch him in his cocky little face. She's so very tempted into doing it, it would be worth possibly injuring herself in the process.

Well excuse me for screaming while in excruciating pain, and seeing some generally terrifying things. I'll be sure to be quiet next time.

Nero smirks at Dante. "The amount of sarcasm in that could kill you. Look, that demon is not getting in this house. She would have to be some kind of moron to come in here."

Oh. So I'm supposed to just push that totally logical fear that she can kill me aside, and not freak out when I SEE HER IN THE GOD DAMNED MIRROR!

Dante whistles at the harsh language written on Mona's paper. "She curses."

Trish rubs her forehead and sighs. "You two are making this so much worse. She was attacked, tortured, and God knows what else happened to her. She is allowed to freak out. Maybe if Dante would get off his lazy ass and put up some protection spells on this place, or get someone else to do it, then she wouldn't have a reason to freak out."

Dante flips Trish off when she calls him lazy. Mona gestures to Trish with her hands, a silent thank you: at least someone in this house understands. But, there is something Mona hasn't told them. It wasn't seeing Matrem that scared her. It was the fact that she was in Mona's body, she was wearing Mona's clothes, she had Mona's facial features, but her eyes were black, and the veins on her face were pushed to the surface and were also black. iMona/i were the demon. That is what made her scream.

Mona sits further back on the couch, and pulls her sore legs up to her chest. With her head on her knees, Mona watches the three people in the room argue.

Finally Dante agrees to put up protection spells, but insists Nero does all the work. The two fight like brothers Mona soon realizes. Mona grabs a magazine off of the coffee table and sneezes when a cloud of dust flies up at the movement. Mona wrinkles her nose and gently sets the magazine back down. Sneakily, she slides a note over to Trish.

Can you go out and get me these supplies? If I'm going to be staying here, this house will be clean. I can't live like this.

Trish snickers and nods her head. On her way out of the door, Trish points out a few spots that Nero "missed", and he glowers at her. She smiles and struts out of the closing door.

Mona's Gran always told her that movement was the best medicine for sore muscles. It loosens them up and prevents them from getting stiff and tight. And she tells herself that she agrees with her Gran as she cleans the house: Mona's muscles scream at her the whole time. She has to keep them moving though, too much bed rest is a bad thing. Besides that, Mona was never one to sit still, why change now?

She smacks Dante upside the head with a rolled up newspaper when he puts his muddy boots up on the desk she just finished cleaning. He rubs the back of his head and looks up at her. Mona gives her best intimidating glare, but winds up smiling. Mona lets out a huff and hands him the rag so he can wipe the mud off.

"Are you gonna ride my ass the whole time you're here? Because I have to be honest, I'd rather be the one doing the riding."

Mona rolls her eyes and continues to clean. The kitchen takes her the longest: there are pizza boxes piled up to the ceiling. Mona jumps and makes a small noise when a mouse jumps down from the top box and lands at her feet. She grabs a cobweb-covered broom from the closet, and shoos the mouse out of the back door. She nods her head when it scurries off down the alley.

Mona turns and opens a cabinet door, ready to put cereal boxes in it, when a shrunken head falls out off the shelf and on to the counter where it spins a few times before stopping to look at her. Mona takes a sharp intake of breath and backs up and smacks into the doorframe. Quickly, she bolts out of the kitchen, skids around the corner and runs over to Dante.

"What is it, babe?" He asks Mona without looking up.

Mona grabs his big leather clad hand, and starts jerking on him. Dante stands up and lets Mona lead him into the kitchen. At some point, he draws his gun and holds it out in front of him. Instinctively, she steps behind him, her fists in his shirt.

"What am I looking for, babe?" Dante asks Mona when he sees nothing in the kitchen.

She points violently to the shrunken head on the counter.

"Bob!" Dante half yells in surprise. "I was wondering where you went off too…" Dante walks over and picks up the shrunken head.

Mona's eyes grow wide in disgust as Dante handles the head.

"He's harmless, Mona. Well…more so now that he's a shrunken head. He was a real dick before. I'll go put him up." Dante pats her head and she makes a mental note to wash her hair again after this.

A few moments later, Mona is trying to get a rather sticky door open. She suspects it won't open because the wood has swelled, causing the door to stick. Carefully, she puts her foot on the wall, and uses it as leverage. After about five minutes she stops, panting, and decides to give up on opening the door. Mona stares at the door with curiosity. There's a large crack in it starting at the top, and splintering down towards the bottom. She lightly traces her fingers down it as she continues to stare.

"Curiostity killed the cat," Nero drawls out from behind her.

Mona lets out a gasp, jumps, and then spins around and her back hits the door. Nero raises an eyebrow at her, his face unreadable other than the eyebrow. Mona gives an embarrassed smile and shrug. This is totally awkward.

"Dinner is here," Nero finally says after a few moments of awkward silence.

With that, Mona follows Nero down the hall and to the open living room. Three pizza boxes sit on top of Dante's desk. Trish is nowhere to be seen: Mona figures she must have gone home. Nero hands Mona a plate of pizza. She looks at it, all greasy, fat loaded, carbohydrate induced, extra cheesy mess. She knows she shouldn't eat it, but she realizes she hasn't eaten in what feels like days, and she picks the slice up, and takes a bite. It's nearly orgasmic: Mona hasn't had pizza in years.

Dante smiles at her, "That's an adorable sound you just made. Have you never had pizza before?"

Mona's grease covered fingers pick up the pencil and begin to write.

My diet doesn't exactly allow me to eat pizza. It's been a few years since I've had it.

Dante looks as though he's about to cry. Mona smiles and takes another bite. God she missed pizza. Mona decides that she might have three more slices and a beer before the night is out.


	6. Chapter 6

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_"You danced so beautifully," Dante croons at Mona. _

_Mona smiles at him, but notes that something is very much off about him. Suddenly, Dante pushes her forcefully backwards, making her smack her head into the brick. Mona yelps and starts to slide down the fall from dizziness. Dante roughly grabs her arms and hoists her back up into standing position. When Mona looks into his eyes, she screams: his once bright blue eyes are now pitch black and bottomless. Mona kicks at his legs and hits at his face, but he doesn't seem to feel any of it. _

_"I'm sure you'd dance even more beautifully covered in flames," Dante whispers as he leans foreword and licks her from her jaw up to her temple. _

_Matrem slowly approaches from behind Dante, and Mona looks at him pleadingly. _

_"Dante, please!" Mona screams as she struggles harder. _

_"Who says this is Dante?" _

_He smiles and his teeth turn to daggers. He leans closer in to her face and opens his jaw wide enough to swallow her whole._

Mona awakes with a jerk and a gasp for air. Sweat drips down her face and neck, soaking her shirt. She finds herself scanning the room for Nero. Strangely, the room is completely empty besides herself. From the looks of the light in the room, Mona guesses it's just before sunrise. Realizing her mouth is dry and her throat feels like it's on fire, Mona quietly exits her room and makes her way down to the kitchen. The house is as quiet as always, something that made her nervous at first. Mona had never been in a house as quiet as Dante's. Once Mona descends the stairs, she begins to make her way to the kitchen. Just as she is about to reach the doorway, a strange sound stops her in her tracks: a soft _thud, thud,thud,thudthudthud, _echoes around her. Slowly, she turns to face the room behind her. Something comes bouncing down the stairs, but in the darkness she can't tell what it is. When it hits the bottom step, it bounces in the air, lands, and then comes rolling towards her. Mona backs up as she watches it roll toward her feet where it stops with a spin. She sighs when she realizes it's only Bob.

"Bob. I thought Dante locked you up in the cabinet?" Mona asks the shrunken head like it could answer her.

Shaking her head, she returns into the kitchen to get herself a drink.

"It's late. You should be in bed," Dante says in a slightly threatening tone.

Mona drops the glass she's holding into the sink where it shatters. She turns around to face Dante, her hands still shaking.

"Shit, Dante. You scared me," she says with a tremble in her voice.

"Apologies. Why aren't you in bed?" he asks her as he moves around her to the fridge.

"I had a nightmare."

Before she can continue, Dante interrupts her, "Well I'm sure whatever dream me did, was not intentional."

Mona reaches behind her and picks up a shard of glass in the sink. "I never said you were in it, Dante…" She starts to shake now. She holds in the hiss that tries to escape when the glass cuts the palm of her hand.

"Who says I'm Dante?"

In seconds Dante is rushing towards her, his body will have the effect of a wrecking ball if he hits her. Swiftly, Mona turns to the left, and dives out of the kitchen. In seconds, she's back on her feet and sprinting towards the stairs. Dante tackles her from behind. Mona wastes no time in twisting herself so her chest is against his. Dante sneers above her, the action looks strange on his face. Mona brings her knees up to her chest, the action made difficult with Dante so close. Using all of the strength in her legs, Mona shoves her feet against Dante's chest, sending him flying off of her.

Knowing time is precious, Mona rolls backwards on to her feet, and starts to run again. The glass still digs painfully into her palm, but she doesn't want to use it on Dante. She doesn't want to hurt him: he was still her friend! Mona breaks out into a run, quickening her pace when she hears Dante behind her. A horrible feeling that Dante is about to catch her washes over her and she makes a sharp turn to the right, heading down the hallway with the jammed door. A crash behind her signals that Dante caught the better end of the bookcase instead of her.

"Nero!" Mona screams as loud as she can. She knows eventually that Dante will catch her, and Nero has a greater chance of making it out alive.

Mona skids to a halt when Dante appears at the end of the hallway. She doesn't know how he got there, but all that matters is he's there, looming in front of her. Mona takes a moment to catch her breath. Dante lets a cruel smile spread across his lips as he surveys her.

"Nero! Thank God!" Mona shouts, looking behind Dante.

When Dante turns, prepared to fight, Mona takes the chance to run. She won't have long when Dante sees no one is behind him. Mona screams again for Nero, wondering why he hasn't come down yet. Mona makes a b-line for the stairs, praising herself that her legs are as strong as they are. A chair comes flying out from the hallway where Dante is and shatters against the wall. Glass still clutched firmly in hand, Mona begins to run up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. It all happens in slow motion: Dante reaches forward and grabs her ankle, she falls forward, he hand reaching out to catch herself, then her jaw hits the stairs painfully, sending stars dancing in front of her eyes. Dante rips her back down the stairs, and sits on Mona's hips. His hand wraps its self around her throat and he sneers down at her.

"Dante, please." Mona doesn't beg. She can hurt Dante, but she doesn't want to. He's still her friend, and she doesn't want to hurt him.

"Oh, that was a horrible beg." Mona realizes that Dante will not be letting her go. He's going to try and kill her. Dante continues, ignoring Mona's movements beneath him, "I'm going to have to teach you how to b-"

Dante jerks to a halt, confusion washing over his face as he looks down at Mona. Tears rise in Mona's eyes as she looks back at him, wishing it had not come to this. Mona whimpers as she shoves the glass shard further into Dante's stomach, causing him to choke. Slowly, she pulls her hand away from the glass, cutting her hand even more. Dante places a hand over the glass and pulls it back up to his face to look at the blood. Mona cries beneath him, realizing that she's just killed her friend, the man who saved her, who took her in.

"I'm sorry," she whispers.


	7. Chapter 7

"I'm sorry," she whispers.

What has she done? Blood oozes out of Dante's stomach and drips onto Mona. Her hand burns and stings from where the glass cut her. Dante places a hand by her head as he leans over her. Mona isn't sure how much more emotional pain she can take before she collapses: this was much worse than the dream. This is real life. This is real life where she just stabbed her friend in his stomach. Bile and stomach acid could be leaking into his abdomen as they speak. He could be bleeding to death. His eyes close briefly and he grimaces in pain. Slowly, his open again and he finds her.

"Mona?" Dante asks with confusion. "Mona, what…" Dante trails off as he looks down at his torso once again.

Mona watches him, bewilderment contorting her face. What just happened? Dante rolls himself off of Mona and onto his back beside her. He moans and clutches at the glass in his stomach. Mona sits up and scoots away from him, watching him carefully: this could be another trick. Dante jerks the piece of glass violently from his stomach, and tosses it away from him. Mona whimpers when more blood starts pouring out. Quickly, she gets up and runs for the phone on Dante's desk. Trish is the first person she calls.

"This had better be good, or so help you," Trish grumbles angrily into the phone.

"Trish," Mona sobs out before placing a hand over her mouth and continuing. "I stabbed Dante."

"What? Mona? You did what?" Trish asks, immediately awake.

"I s-stabbed D-ante. Trish, I had to, he was trying to kill me, and…and..,Trish, please come help. He's bleeding so much. I don't know what to do," Mona sobs.

"I'll be there in two minutes. Put pressure on it, okay?"

The line goes dead and Mona looks at Dante: he lies on his back, his eyes closed, and a grimace on his face. Mona carefully walks back over to Dante, hesitation in every step. She kneels down next to him, and places her hands on top of his and presses down. She winces when he groans.

"God, babe. I know I can be a dick sometimes, but did you have to stab me?" He tries to smile at her, but it only comes out as a grimace.

"You don't…You don't know why I stabbed you?"

"Got m-e."

"Dante, you…You were trying to kill me. You attacked me in the kitchen," Mona explains.

"No, I didn't," he says perplexed.

"You did… You…You knew I had a dream that you attacked me, but I didn't tell you about that. And when I said I didn't tell you that you were in it, you said, 'Who says I'm Dante'. And you attacked me."

Dante grows very quiet, scaring Mona half to death. Finally he turns his blue eyes towards her. He starts to say something to her, but Trish throws the front doors open making Mona jump. Within seconds, Trish is on the other side of Dante, ripping his shirt open.

"Where is Nero?" she demands.

Dante yelps when Trish shoves on his stomach. "You bitch. He's out. He went to go cool off he sai- Ouch!"

Mona watches as Trish shoves her fingers into the wound and pulls out broken off sliver of glass.

"You'll live. You wouldn't have though, if she would have shoved it just ¼ of an inch deeper. You got lucky. Mona, go into the bathroom down the hall and bring me the blue box in the corner," Trish instructs.

Mona nods and does as she's asked, quickly running to the bathroom.

Trish takes the time alone with Dante to ask him a question. "What did you do to her? Tell me now, and I promise I'll make your beating less painful."

"I didn't do anything," Dante answers truthfully.

"Bullshit. That girl called me terrified. She said you attacked her Dante. Mona is not the type of girl to lie about these things. You did something. Now, tell me, or I'll shove my fingers in your stomach again," she threatens, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm telling you, I did nothing. I had a pizza, drank some beer, had a strawberry sundae, went to the strip club, and then came home and went to sleep. When I woke up, I was on top of Mona, and had a piece of glass sticking out of my stomach," he groans after he finishes. "God, I forgot how much these stomach wounds hurt."

"Don't be such a baby," Trish sighs.

It takes Trish an hour and a half to get Dante and Mona's hand patched up. After Trish was finished with Dante, she helped him upstairs to his room, and then came back to finish Mona. Now, they sit face-to-face, Mona's hand in Trish's lap as Trish bandages it.

"Will he be okay?" Mona asks after a brief silence.

"He'll be fine. He's stronger than you think. But if you would have shoved that in any further, and he'd be in trouble. He likes people to think he's invincible, but he can get hurt. And he can be killed, as much as it pains him to acknowledge," Trish explains as she finishes taping the bandage.

"Does he remember anything?" Mona asks.

"No. He did his usual routine after he put you to bed. He doesn't remember anything. Personally, I think he caught something from one of those strippers. And no, I don't mean a disease. I think one of them was paid to slip him something in his drink. Something that would weaken him, but I can't be sure. I'll stop by there tomorrow and ask around."

Nero chooses this time to walk through the door, his jacket thrown over his shoulder like he hasn't a care in the world. He stops suddenly and looks around the room, his eyes freezing on Mona and her injured hand. Before he can ask her what happened, Mona stands up, storms over to him, and slaps him hard across the face. Trish blinks before a smirk crosses her face.

"What the hell-"

"Where were you?" Mona screams at him.

"I was out! What happened?" he has the audacity to demand instead of ask.

"I nearly was killed by Dante, and nearly killed him defending myself, because you weren't here! I screamed for you, and you weren't here! I needed your help, Nero! I could have really hurt him! He could have killed me!" Mona screams at him, her body shaking with rage.

Without giving him time to respond to her, Mona storms off upstairs, leaving Nero standing in shock. Trish whistles and starts to clean up the first aid kit. Mona wants to go back downstairs and continue to beat the shit out of Nero, but now her injured hand is throbbing painfully. Briefly, she pauses at Dante's door and considers going in. It's not like she'll be sleeping for a while anyways, but she doesn't feel ready to face him. So, turning on her heels, she enters into her room instead. Looking at the bags in the corner, Mona decides she should probably unpack: she feels like she'll be staying for a while. Her door shuts quietly when she closes it, and she lifts her bags onto the bed.

Two hours later, the sun is streaming through her curtains, and she's finished unpacking. The computer on the bed lures her to it and she gives in. The beloved startup noise fills her ears: alas, normalcy. Fingers type away as she responds to email after email: her teacher, her boss, her friends, her landlord, and several others. Mona doesn't bother to read the emails older emails, she knows what they'll all say, what they'll all think. She'll focus on what they want to hear, what they need to know. Immediately she gets a response from the ballet manager, but she saves it until she finishes writing everyone back. Three hours later, she opens the only email in her inbox.

_Mona,_

_ I'm so glad you emailed me! Darling, I've been so worried about you. Clara told me you had been attacked! I'm glad to hear that you're okay. Any time you're ready, you can come back to the studio. We can't wait to have you back. We have not held auditions for Sleeping Beauty yet. Those will be held next week sometime, and you are more than welcome to try out. In fact, I expect you to. You're one of my star dancers and I want nothing more than to see you succeed. _

_ But, enough of business. Darling, are you certain you're alright? You know I think of you as a daughter, and I worry about you. Ever since your Gran died, I've seen a change in you. I only want for you to feel loved and to be looked after. Mo, if there is anything you need from me, please, do not hesitate to ask. I'm always here for you. Write back soon._

_ With warm thoughts,_

_ Charlotte_

Mona wipes tears from her eyes as she finishes reading the letter. It was cruel of her to not contact Charlotte sooner. The woman has been nothing but kind and sweet to her. Mona shuts her computer and slides it away from her. With a sigh, she rolls on her side and wraps her arms around her stomach. She has never felt more alone in her entire life. She feels broken-down and cornered. Thoughts race through her head: were they trying to break her down? Who are they? Are they trying to weaken her? Because it's working. She can feel herself growing weaker, less alert. She is afraid that eventually, she's going to give herself over to them willingly. Eventually, she'll grow tired of fighting. A person can only fight for so long before they go gently into the dark.

She misses her Gran. Mona knows that her Gran would know what to do. She would take her warm brown hands and wrap them around Mona's and kiss her fingers. She would take her into her yellow kitchen, make her a glass of warm milk, honey, and vanilla, and sit her down in front of the window overlooking the garden. She would tell her to look to God, even though she knew Mona didn't believe in one, and she would say that that didn't matter to God, he still saw her, still loved her, and would never condemn her. Mona reaches across the bed and grabs her Gran's rosary off of the table. She brings it to her lips and kisses it gently: it still felt warm. It always felt warm when her Gran had it.

Her Gran once told her the story of how she got it. She told Mona her mother, Abigail, was just a girl when she moved out to Arizona with her parents. Gran said that Abi worked day and night searching for stones in the Arizona land. Gran said her mother like to feel their heat. One day she said, a young Navajo boy, Tsela, found Abi out in the desert looking for rocks. He took her by the hand, and led her around the desert, picking up discarded Mohave turquoise, raw blue opal, and peacock ore. Abi especially liked the peacock ore. Gran said Abi told her once that it looked like the stars where God lived and watched over them. The two grew close, and eventually, Abi and Tsela married, and moved to the East Coast, as they always dreamed off. As a wedding gift, Tsela had the turquoise, opal, and ore shaped into rosary beads. The cross was carved from quartz that held shards of lazulite in it. Mona's gran had found the quartz when she returned to Arizona. When she married her husband, Niyol, he had the quartz and lazulite stone carved in the shape of a cross for her and attached to the rosary. The original cross was melted down and made into Gran's wedding band, which Mona wears now.

Mona grasps the rosary tighter and feels the tears run down her face and onto her pillow. Quietly she whispers, "I don't know what to do. Gran, I don't know how long I can do this. I feel like I'm not strong enough for this. I know you would tell me to pray, Gran, but…I don't know how. I don't know what to pray for, or who to pray to. Help me, Gran. Please. I'm so afraid."

Mona closes her eyes and pulls the rosary into her chest. Nero stands at the side of her bed, looking down on her. He feels like a jackass for behaving the way he has been. He didn't even think about how afraid she must be. He lays down softly on the bed behind her, and wraps his arms around her: a silent I'm sorry. Mona rolls over in his arms to face him. He gives her an apologetic smile and holds her tighter. Mona hides her face in his chest and holds onto his shirt.


	8. Chapter 8

Mona wakes up a few hours later, a haze fogging her mind. Her face is still hidden in Nero's slowly rising and falling chest. His warmth escapes from him, surrounding her in its desert. His arms are wrapped tightly and protectively around her, keeping her close to him: not that she minds that is. Mona carefully pulls her head back and looks up into his face. She's slightly startled when she finds his eyes open and staring back down at her.

"I'm sorry," he admits without shame. "For the way I treated you yesterday. It was just misplaced anger, and I apologize."

"Thank you," Mona whispers shocked. She didn't peg Nero as a man who would apologize. "I should go check on Dante. I feel bad for stabbing him…"

Mona tries to pull away from Nero, but he keeps her there with a smile. "I'm sure Dante is fine. He's been stabbed before, several times in fact. He has that effect on people," he explains.

"Are you one of those people?"

"I will neither admit or deny anything," he finishes with a nod.

Mona shakes her head with a smile. With the realization that he probably will not be letting her go, Mona relaxes back into him. It felt nice: normal human contact that is. Recently the only time she's ever been touched or held is when she's being attacked: except for that night at the studio when Dante hugged her. It felt nice to be held again, really held.

"I really do need to go check on him," Mona says quietly after a few minutes of bliss.

"If you feel you must."

"I do," she answers as she untangles herself from him. "Besides, I'm still a little upset with you." Mona climbs off of the bed and picks up a sweatshirt to fight off her chill.

"I apologized!" he exclaims not angrily.

"You did, and I accept, but I'm still angry with you. You can make it up by going to the store and picking up the items on the list I left on your deck two fucking days ago," she says with a narrowed eye.

"Alright, alright. Just, try not to stab Dante again. I know it's hard, what with him being a jackass and all, but do try to resist the urge."

Mona shakes her head in amusement, and walks across the hall to Dante's room.

She finds him propped up in bed, magazines and a pizza box strewn across his lap. Mona leans against the doorframe for a moment, observing him. He is nicely built: a strong chest and shoulders, his arms as well. He legs look even stronger. She realizes with amusement that he would make a good dancer.

"What exactly are you smirking at there hot stuff?" he asks with an eyebrow raised.

"You. You're very well built," Mona admits without shame.

"Why thank you. I do t-"

"You'd make a good ballet dancer."

Dante's face goes from smiles to stoic in seconds. "I am not a tutu wearing leotard guy."

Mona rolls her eyes. "Men do not wear the tutus. Besides, male dancers are incredibly strong. And women tend to love them," she adds, defending male dancers. "Not to mention, they are incredibly disciplined and go through years of training and instruction. Some of them can actually go up on point shoes, which is pretty incredible. Then again, I read the article about The Big Ballet, a troupe from Russia, and the girls weigh no less than like 220 pounds each. All of them can go up on their point shoes, which is just absolutely amazing. Do you know how much strength they have to have to do that? It's truly amazing. I've seen videos of them dancing- and even though they're partially comedy- they dance beautifully."

Dante listens to her ramble with an eyebrow raised. He smiles at the ecstatic tone in her voice and her enthusiastic arm movements. It was plain to see how excited and passionate she was about dance.

"Still not wearing the tights, doll."

"Too bad. You'd look hot in them," she says with a smile. Dante tosses a magazine at her and she ducks to the side. "So, has Trish confined you to bed rest?" she asks as she enters the room more fully.

"Yes, the witch says I'm not allowed to move for another day. It's truly killing me, not being able to work. Being able to do nothing but eat pizza and relax," he says, feigning exasperation.

"Oh, yes. I bet it's just horrible," Mona picks up a slice of pizza and takes a bite.

Mona is stretching and do simple routines when Nero walks in carrying bags and bags of groceries. With her headphones in, she doesn't hear him enter the room, giving him time to observe her. She's wearing a black halter leotard and a pair of neon blue tights with a bone x-ray pattern, and purple fuzzy socks. A kind of sad softness washes across her face as she practices. Nero notices her rosary hanging around her neck. He watches her move gracefully in her little corner: she reminds him of wind.

"You gonna fuck her with your eyes, or go put the groceries up?" Dante asks from his desk.

"I thought you were supposed to be in bed, old man?" Nero snaps, walking into the kitchen.

"Eh. I got bored. Besides, I like watching her dance. She's good. Apparently you like watching her too. Though, I don't think you were watching for the dancing," Dante remarks as he crosses his feet.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean exactly?" Nero asks, heavily annoyed.

"It means that you have the hots for the girl. Not that I blame you. Hell knows I've thought about her before. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just a shame that it took Sitri for you to figure that out," Dante says, finally looking at Nero.

Nero glares at him and heads into the kitchen. He doesn't "have the hots" for Mona. She's a friend: a friend that he cares about and doesn't want to see anything happen to. He doesn't have the hots for her: he is just less of a jackass to her now. He realizes now that she's a person who hasn't dealt with this type of thing before. He was being inconsiderate of her feelings about the whole thing.

Mona comes up behind Nero, and puts her arm around his shoulder.

"Did you get the ju- Oh you did!" Mona yells happily as she pulls out a bottle of juice from one of the bags in his arms. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I didn't even know what half of this shit is. I had to ask people. Eventually I just gave a girl the list and she got everything for me," he explains, setting the bags on the counter.

"You know, for someone who fights demons and risks his life, you sure are helpless."

"I'm not helpless," he says defensively.

"Little bit. You couldn't even buy the gro-" Mona breaks off in a squeal when Nero picks her up and throws her over his shoulder. "Nero!"

Nero ignores her as he spins her around the kitchen. Mona reaches down and pinches his butt harshly.

"Ow! Hey!" Nero yelps at the assault.

"Oooh! Big tough demon killer can't take a pinch to the aSS!" Mona shrieks the last two letters as Nero pinches her thigh.

Nero lowers Nero further down his back, making her scream and wrap her arms around him. Nero laughs when she shouts at him, asking him to pull her back up. Mona bends herself around to his side and Nero lets go of her legs to pull her back around by her torso. He now has one arm wrapped around her waist, holding her by her waist at his side.

"Nero! Knock it off!" Mona laughs.

Nero carries her around the kitchen as he puts things away. Mona struggles in his arm, but he's too strong for her. Eventually she gives up and just hangs there.

"When you two are done flirting with each other, I need you in here," Dante yells into the kitchen.

Mona looks up at Nero. The two lock eyes and it instantly becomes uncomfortable. Nero sets Mona down on her feet and Mona walks out into the living room to find Dante.

"We weren't flirting," Mona defends.

"You were. It was disgusting. All that cuteness wanted to make me stab myself in the stomach," Dante answers, putting his magazine down. "Trish here," he says as he gestures to Trish, who is sitting in the chair across the room, "found out what happened."

Trish smiles knowingly at Mona, who blushes and looks away from her.

"Turns out, someone drugged Dante. Bunny, her name was. Someone came to Bunny before work, gave her five grand to slip a pill into Dante's beer before the show. She doesn't know what it was, or who it was. My guess is it was something that weakened Dante enough for something to latch its self onto him, or to take control of him," Trish explains, watching Nero come into the room.

"It's never been done before," Dante says with a scowl.

"No, but we've never exactly dealt with anything like this before," Nero states. He drops his body on the couch and avoids looking at Mona.

"That's very comforting," Mona grumbles sarcastically.

"Well babe, it's odd," Dante says. "See, we've always dealt with these things pretty much face to face. Normally, when they want something, they just go full force at it," Dante explains to Mona.

Mona thinks for a few minutes before she speaks. "Now that you mention it…I've never actually seen Matrem. I mean, I've seen her, but… It's always been in reflections, mirrors, or my dreams. I've never seen her physically. It's always been others trying to hurt me or hunting me. Never her. Why?"

Nero cocks his eyebrow. "Now, that is the question isn't it? Why is she getting others to do her dirty work?"

Trish shrugs and crosses her legs. "Well, she could be trying to wear us down. Maybe she thinks one of us will be killed and that will make it easier for her to get to Mona."

Dante shakes his head and crosses his arms across his chest. Mona becomes very quiet and lost in her thoughts. It is a good question: why hasn't Matrem shown her face in reality?

"They're trying to break me," Mona whispers as the thought makes its appearance. All three of the hunters look at Mona. "I need to go to the studio," she says changing the subject. "Rehearsal starts in a half hour, and I need to be there."

Before any of them can object, Mona grabs her purse and a jacket, and walks out of the door. Dante nods to Nero, signaling him to go with her. Trish frowns as she watches Mona leave the house. The poor girl has had her entire life turned upside down. It's amazing she's done as well has she has, considering the circumstances.

Dante stands up from his desk and says quietly, "Put up the protections again. Triple them this time. I'm going to go see a man about a dog." Dante pulls his coat off of the rack and slips it around his body before he leaves through the back.


	9. Chapter 9

Nero keeps his distance as Mona walks in front of him. He's not trying to be sneaky, he just thinks it would be better to give her time alone for a few minutes. Besides, he's quite enjoying the view of her walking away.

"People are going to think you're stalking me, Nero," Mona invites.

Nero smiles and picks his gait up to walk beside her. Mona says nothing more as the two walk side by side. Nero letting Mona lead the way while he keeps a look out for anything unusual. It looks like it could storm again tonight: the sky is black with rolling clouds and the air has a chilly bite to it. Mona tries not to spiral into an anxiety attack when she realizes it feels like the night Patricia attacked her. Mona quickens her pace without noticing.

Finally, the studio comes into view and Mona feels a bit more relaxed. She'll finally be able to get back some normalcy. Mona races in the door, realizing she's five minutes late.

"Nero, wait out here. You can't come in the r-" Mona begins to tell Nero, before she's cut off by Charlotte.

"Mona!" Charlotte yells from behind her, her voice laced with concern.

Mona turns around just in time to be wrapped in a hug by Charlotte. Nero takes a step back, and waits by the sidelines. Charlotte's arms hold Mona tightly.

"Hello, Charlotte," Mona says quietly as she hugs Charlotte back. She pushes the tears that want to rise up back down before they can fall. "I'm alright. I promise. I'm okay," Mona reassures Charlotte.

"What happened, darling? You just disappeared!" Charlotte pulls away so she can look fully into Mona's face.

"Well, I…It's complicated."

"Mona was attacked by a stalker. That's why I'm here: they still haven't caught him yet, and we just want to keep her safe. But I won't interfere with her dancing, and you won't know I'm here," Nero lies rather convincingly.

Charlotte looks at Nero and then back to Mona. "You have a stalker?"

"I guess so," Mona says rather slowly.

Charlotte looks ready to cry. Mona shushes her, saying, "It's alright. I'm fine, I promise. I'm being taken care of, and it's calmed down a lot. In no way will this affect my dancing, or my commitment to it. I'll be coming to rehearsals regularly after this, I swear."

"I know. Mona, you are always so dedicated. I hope you have a dance prepared for tonight," Charlotte says, clasping her hands over Mona's.

"Tonight?" Mona asks confused.

"Yes…You did get the emails? Tonight are the auditions for Sleeping Beauty…Oh Mona, surely you had time to look over the choreography!" Charlotte's eyes search Mona's face for conformation.

"Y-yes. Of course! But I chose a different pursuit. I'm not going to perform a scene from the ballet, I'll be doing one of my own makings," Mona says with confidence.

"Oh, Mona, that's very risky…But I know you can do it! No doubt you've been practicing this for some time! I'll see you in there. And your young friend is more than welcome to come and watch. As long as he's quiet." Charlotte gives Nero her 'I'm serious' face.

Nero nods his understanding and watches as Charlotte enters into the main floor. Mona's face goes from calm and smiling to panic in seconds. Nero holds up his hands in a clam down signal.

"Oh my God. Oh shit. Oh fuck. Oh fucking Christ. Oh God. I can't…What am I going to do?" Mona's voice raises a few octaves in her panic.

"Just… go dance?" Nero suggests in a questioning manor.

"Just…Just dance? _Just_ go dance?" Mona laughs in a panic. "Nero, Clara has been preparing for months for this! I haven't prepared at all!" she shouts in a hoarse whisper. "This isn't something that you can just go in a wing it. This is serious. This is my career, Nero. It's not just a hobby. This is how I pay my bills. What do I do?" Mona asks tensely, her voice laced with panic.

Nero strides across the room and takes her face in his hands and slowly draws her to looking at him. "You go in there, and you dance as if it's the only thing that will save you. You show them how strong you are and how totally graceful and powerful you are," he instructs her calmly.

Mona nods and places her hand on his. She closes her eyes and takes several deep breathes before leading them both out of the main room.

The rehearsal room is buzzing with everyone's excitement and nerves. Mona looks around and spots Clara stretching by the mirrors: Mona smiles and waves at her friend as she leads Nero by the hand towards Clara. Clara smiles and waves back at Mona, excitement written across her face. Nero surveys Mona's friend carefully. He won't mention how shocked Clara looked to see Mona. Nero brushes it off as her just being surprised to see Mona after not hearing from her for nearly a month.

"Mona! You're here! I thought you had left or something," Clara exclaims as she hugs Mona.

"Well, some serious stuff went down, but I'm fine now. Clara, this is Nero. Nero, Clara."

Clara smiles at Nero as she looks him up and down. Nero politely smiles back at her and excuses himself to go find an empty chair. Mona yells at him and tosses her bag to him when he turns around. Quickly, she sits down and begins to lace up her shoes.

"He's cute. Got a nice ass," Clara observes.

"He's decent," Mona says curtly.

"Are you two…" Clara asks, looking down at Mona, while she stretches.

"No. No we're not," Mona tries not to snap at her friend. She's just nervous is all.

"Mind if I make a move on him?" Clara asks curiously.

Mona stands up from her place on the floor and beings her stretches. "No, not at all." Mona swallows as she searches the room for Nero. She finds him standing next to Charlotte, the two in deep conversation.

Mona quickly begins to think about what song she needs to dance to: it has to be something that will make her stick out from the rest. Of course, that's not going to be hard since she's not doing a routine from the actual Sleeping Beauty ballet. Mona does her best to ignore Clara's ramblings as she practices her routine. Mona looks back towards the mirror and tries her best not to jump when she finds Matrem staring back at her. Mona looks over at Clara to see her reaction, only to find her smiling and chatting away to Rebecca. Mona turns around and finds Nero, but he doesn't seem to notice either.

"What do you want?" Mona asks quietly, her voice strong.

"I think that much would be obvious by now, dear," Matrem laughs as she draws her nails across the other side of the mirror.

"Why? Why me?" Mona questions as she continues to stretch. She will not show fear. She will not show cowardice. Not anymore.

"Because, you have a great destiny before you…Mona."

When Mona snaps her head up from her stretch, she sees only her own reflection. Mona can feel her heart pounding harshly against her chest. She turns around and searches for Nero again. When she finds him he looks at her with concern. She gives him a weak smile and nods slightly, signaling him that she's okay.

Finally, the auditions begin. Mona watches as every girl dances for the lead and the same with every guy. Occasionally, a few danced for Carabosse or one of the fairies. Soon, it's Clara's turn to audition: Mona smiles as she watches her friend move to the center of the room. Naturally, Clara dances beautifully in her audition. Mona smiles as she watches her, feeling pride for her friend. The judges smile as well, something that worries Mona. Of course she wants her friend to do well, but this is a part that they both want. Clara's doing well could mean failure for Mona.

Charlotte, breaking the silence and Mona's thoughts, calls Mona's name. Mona makes her way out to the center of the floor and stands in front of the judges. Strong, graceful, and powerful, Mona thinks to herself. Mona nods to Rebecca, a signal for her to put on her music. Requiem for a Tower by Clint Mansell starts off and Mona takes a moment to breathe deeply. She finds Nero sitting in the chair watching her calmly.

Seizing her opportunity, Mona begins to dance. She closes her eyes and lets the music fill her ears. Powerful. Graceful. Strong. Mona repeats the words like a mantra as she dances across the room. "Dance as if it's the only thing that will save you." Mona lets Nero's words swim around her head. Mona spins violently in her pirouette, and slams her right foot back down before continuing. She gives this dance all she has because she knows she has absolutely nothing to lose. When thunder shakes the building, Mona stumbles. Before it can be called a mistake, Mona pretends that it was part of her dance, working to make sure it's not noticed as an accident. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Nero on the edge of his chair, his hands gripping his crossed arms. Mona pushes the flashes of her attack past her eyes as she tries to focus on her dance. Everything she has ever wanted is on the line, and Mona refuses to let some demon bitch that spawned from the depths of hell ruin it for her.

When Mona's music stops, the room is quiet. No one claps, no one clears their throat, no one says anything: Mona's heavy breathing is the only sound heard. Mona looks over to where Nero sits and swallows at what she sees: his eyes are hard and narrowed, his lips are slightly open, and his body is as straight as a board. Finally, Charlotte stands and begins clapping. Other's finally join in, most of them smiling. Mona lets her body slump in relaxation. She blinks slowly a few times and then smiles: she did it, she really did it.

"We have a lot of consideration ahead of us. So, please be patient, and we will have the cast list up in a few days. Thank you, that will be all for today," Charlotte says smiling at her dancers.

With a smile on her face, Mona walks over to Nero where she begins to take of her pointe shoes.

"What did you think?" Mona asks, still smiling.

"I thought you were good," Nero says as he stands up.

Mona furrows her brows with confusion. Nero does not sound exactly happy. Mona looks up and catches Nero watching Clara with intensity. Mona looks from Clara, who smiles beguiling at Nero, back to him where she sees a smile on his face as well. Mona feels an anger rise up in her. How dare he?

"You should ask her out," Mona says as she stands. "She like you. She thinks you have a nice butt." Mona grabs her purse from under his chair, stands, and walks out of the room.

Why should she care if he dates Clara? They would be perfect for each other. Mona walks with rage out of the building. The rain is already falling from the sky, soaking her through, but she doesn't care. Let him have Clara. She doesn't want Nero anyways. At least…She doesn't think she wants him. He's a great guy, well, he's a great guy some of the time. Half of the time though, he infuriates her. He's just…So fucking dense sometimes. Sometimes it's like he doesn't even consider her feelings about anything. And the way he looks at her sometimes: it's like he doesn't really see _her_. He just looks right through her.

A hand wraps around Mona's upper arm, and forcefully jerks her backwards.

"Christ, Mona! Will you watch where you're going! That car could have killed you!" Nero yells loudly into her ear.

Mona looks down the street after the car that flew in front of her. Mona turns her head to look back at Nero. He glares down at Mona, sparking the rage in her again. Harshly, Mona jerks her arm out of Nero's grasp and keeps walking.

"I don't even get a thank you?" Nero yells out behind her.

Mona flips him off and keeps walking. The jackass even had the nerve to flirtatiously smile at her friend.

"You want to tell me why you just turned into Emily Rose?"

"Oh! Exorcist jokes! Oh, because I find those so fucking hilarious! I'm sure Dante would to!" Mona throws her hands in the air as she keeps walking.

"He would find them funny. He has a sense of humor," Nero defends as he pulls his coat collar up.

"Well I'm not fucking Dante!"

"I would hope you're not fucking him," Nero chuckles.

Mona stops dead in her tracks and slowly turns to look at Nero. Nero tries hard to suppress his smile as he holds his hands up in mock surrender.

"You are just a giant fucking fuck-bucket!" Mona yells at him.

"Woah, hostility. Why are you so angry with me?" Nero asks, genuinely curious.

"Why am I angry with you? Really?" Mona asks in shock. "Okay. Fine. I'm angry with you because I just went in there and danced my heart out and I was so proud of myself and you just fucking sat there! You didn't even feign excitement! You ruined my whole happiness. And then, on top of that, you just had to flirt with Clara!" Mona nearly screams at him.

"Woah, woah, woah. I did not flirt with Clara. And it is your fault if you let me fuck up your good mood," Nero defends.

"Firstly, you were fucking her with your eyes. Don't try and deny it. Secondly, it is your God damned fault if you are toxic to people. You didn't even have the God damned decency to fake being ecstatic for me. You saw how happy I was, how thrilled I was with myself. A decent person would have seen my happiness and would have at least faked it for me! But you? No, you decided that you would just be mediocre about it, and then flirt with my friend in front of me. It is very much your problem if you make the people around you feel like complete shit," Mona explains as she shakes with rage.

Nero stares at Mona, a thought in the back of his mind that says she's right.

"Just…stay away from me right now," Mona whispers as she turns and walks away from him.


	10. Chapter 10

Mona hugs herself against the chill in the air. It stopped raining five minutes ago, just as Devil May Cry appeared in front of her. She can barely hear Nero walking behind her. She almost regrets yelling at him like she did, almost. Someone had to say it to him though, she just wishes someone before her would have. Mona opens the door to the shop, the familiar groan giving her some comfort. Trish sits in Dante's chair, reading one of his magazines with interest.

"Where's Dante?" Mona asks; she knows that he'll be excited for her.

"Said something about seeing a man about a dog," Trish says as she looks up. "You're wet."

"It was raining," Mona explains with a duh face.

Nero comes in behind Mona, and slams the door shut behind him. Mona refuses to look at him, or even in his general direction. Trish eyes the two suspiciously through her narrowed eyes before uncrossing her legs from on top of the desk, and then setting her feet on the floor.

"I'm going to go take a shower." Mona walks quickly up the stairs before Trish can corner her. "Will you send Dante up when he gets in please?"

Nero, who wasn't paying attention before, quickly snaps his head around to look at Mona. Trish smiles and says she will, of course. Before Nero can even blink or call up a retort, Trish is on him like gorilla glue. Trish watches to make sure Mona shuts the bathroom door before she turns on Nero.

"You sir, have done something to her. Explain yourself and I might be able to help you fix it." Trish taps her boot-covered foot impatiently.

"I didn't do any-"

Trish reaches her hand out and smacks him upside the head. "Bullshit."

"Apparently I was flirting with her-" Nero stops as Trish raises her hand again and then continues, "Alright! Fine! I was flirting with her friend. But only a little bit! I wanted to get close to her to try and get more information on Mona. I don't think Mona is always completely honest with us. I also was not apparently excited enough that she did well on her audition."

Trish narrows her eyes. "I should slap you again for being stupid. You _never_ flirt with a girl's friend. Ever. That's an unwritten rule you insensitive swine. And you always act like Dante died when something exciting happens for someone! It helps with your genuine excitement. You owe her an apology."

"I owe her an apology?" Nero asks, disbelieving.

"Yes! You owe her a big apology!" Trish grumbles as she walks away from Nero, shaking her head at his foolishness. "Bigger dunce than Dante. And that's saying something."

/

Mona turns the water to nearly scalding before she turns from the bath and begins to take her hair down. She slowly and carefully untwists it from the bun on top of her head. She sighs when it's finally free from its tight binding, and falls down to her mid back. Maybe she'll put a hair mask on it tonight. Strangely, her head swims for a moment, forcing her to reach out and steady herself, using the counter as a balance. She must be hungry: she didn't get a chance to eat lunch or dinner yet.

Slowly, Mona begins to undresses herself in the steamy bathroom. Her muscles ache for some reason, she's not sure why. She supposes it could be from how hard she danced, but she's never been this sore before. Well, she has, but it was when she was first starting out. She grimaces when she looks down at her toes: she needs to cut her nails again or they'll be hell to pay later. Dancing always leads to ugly feet. Mona gets down to her underwear when the door flies open.

"Oh! Sor- what the hell is that?" Dante asks over Mona's scream.

Mona tries to cover herself, but Dante comes in and shuts the door.

"What the hell are you doing?! Dante! I'm in my underwear!" Mona screams as she backs away from him, trying to hide herself.

"Stop moving!" Dante shouts harshly at her.

Mona jerks at his tone, and stops her movements. Dante crosses the tiny room to her, and grabs her arms and moves them from their position across her body. Mona feels the heat rise to her cheeks as Dante looks at her. His face hardens into worry and confusion as he looks at her. Gently, his hand reaches out and traces her stomach.

"Dante, I," Mona whispers, afraid of where this is going.

"I'm not going to hurt you, or sleep with you. You'll know when I'm trying to do either," Dante explains as he looks back up into her face. "When did you start getting these?"

"What?" Mona asks as she looks down to where his hand is.

Fear takes root as she sees dark patterns start to rise on her stomach. They start at her left hip, where it disappears from her view around her back, and then appears once more on her right hip where it goes up, circles her belly button once, and then wraps around under her breasts, then continues around her back, and comes up her right shoulder, before it travels down to her wrist.

"What…Dante, what is this?" Mona asks him, terrified of the markings.

"I don't know babe. Turn around for me," Dante says gently.

Mona turns around, a hand clamped over her mouth in shock. The markings were almost black, and looked lightly scaly like snakeskin. She's never noticed them before now. She feels Dante's warm hands on her back, pushing firmly against her skin, pulling this way and that, trying to figure the marks out. Mona feels her stomach twist in sickness. It's almost too much for her to bare. Dante's fingers are too cold on her flesh, too rough, and they hurt her.

Dante watches in shock as Mona spins on him and slams her closed fist against the mirror. It shatters, pieces falling to the floor and in the skink. Swift as wind, Mona raises her hands and shoves Dante. He grunts as Mona sends him flying through the air and crashing through the door and into the hall. He can hear Nero and Trish downstairs, calling out to him. Slowly, he raises himself up and looks at the girl who just knocked him on his ass. Mona's hand is dripping blood onto the floor. Her body is crouched over in almost a non-human way and her hair falls around her. Dante narrows his eyes as Mona's raspy and heavy breathing. Carefully, he walks back into the bathroom, keeping his hand on his gun.

"Mona? Mona, can you hear me? Mona. Mona, tell me what's wrong."

As soon as Dante's foot crosses the threshold of the bathroom, Mona's head snaps up violently to look at Dante. He swallows and straightens when he sees her eyes flash from their normal honey color to a pitch black.

"Don't you fucking touch me, you filthy half-breed!" Mona screams at him in a voice that doesn't belong to her. "I know you, _Dante_. You are not worthy enough to touch me! How dare you even assume that your hands are fit to hold me. I'm going to enjoy watching you _burn_." Mona smiles sadistically as she watches him like a predator.

For once in his life, Dante feels like prey. He doesn't like it, and the feeling pisses him off. When Mona turns to look at herself in the broken mirror, Dante seizes his opportunity. Fast as lightening, he throws himself across the room and wraps his arms tightly around Mona's, pinning them to her side. The scream that comes out Mona is unholy. Dante resists the urge to cover his ears as he struggles to keep her in his grasp. As quickly as it started, it stops. Mona draws her head back from Dante's shoulder and looks up at him with her big normal honey eyes. She smiles sweetly at him and strains up to his face.

"Sweet Dante, always saving me," she sighs as her body relaxes.

Dante feels her wriggling one of her arms, and he moves his so she can pull hers out of his embrace. Her hand goes instantly to the side of his face where she strokes it. Her hand feels like fire against his cheek. His eyes soften when she looks at him, smiling. Her body pushes and rubs against his in a very pleasing manner.

"Don't hero's normally get a reward?" Mona drawls huskily in her throat.

Before Dante can answer, Mona places her lips on his, kissing him in a teasing way. Mona's hand moves down his bare chest, her nails lightly scratching his chest, making him shudder in front of her. Mona grinds her hips against Dante's, making him growl low in his throat. The sound makes her shudder in pleasure: she wants to hear it again. Mona lets her teeth bite gently then roughly at Dante's lips before she kisses him again, her tongue sliding into his mouth. Nero watches behind them with a clenched jaw and clenched fists. Mona opens her eyes, as if sensing him, and finds him, pinning him in her gaze. Her lips smile as she continues to kiss Dante with vigor. She loves how Nero watches with anger in his eyes.

Dante grips Mona's wrist harshly in his hand, coming close to breaking it. "I really wish you would stop trying to kill me," Dante says smiling as he jerks Mona's hand off and away from his gun.

Mona's face goes from smiling to rage in a matter of seconds. She screams again, making Nero cover his ears and grimace in pain. Dante quickly wraps his arms back around her once more, trying to stop her from hurting herself or them.

"Nero! Get me something to tie her hands with!" Dante screams the order at Nero. "Nero! Now, kid!"

Nero nods and scrambles up and starts to run downstairs when Mona stops all movement. Nero pauses briefly, watching to see what will happen. Dante doesn't relax his hold, worrying that it's another one of her tricks. Slowly, Mona begins to stir in his arms.

"Dante?" Mona asks quietly, confused, and sleepy. Her head drops back limply when she tries to look up at him. "What…" Her eyes slide slowly around the room as she tries to figure out what happened. Her eyes find Dante's once more before she goes limp in his arms.

"I think we're-" Dante stops suddenly.

Nero watches in horror as blood trickles out of her mouth and she begins to seize violently in Dante's arms.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everyone! First off, I would really like to thank lioncousin and ElektraMackenzie for their many reviews and compliments. Thank you both so much, it really does mean a whole lot to me. Second, this chapter is three times as long as some of the previous chapters. If at any point, this chapter gets confusing to read, tell me which parts, and I will rewrite them. I want this to flow as smoothly as possible, so any problems, just let me know.

* * *

Dante curses loudly and looks down at Mona in his arms.

"Nero! Go get the fucking car and pull it around. Now," Dante barks out sharply.

Nero is gone by the time Dante says car: he doesn't need to be told twice. Dante holds Mona too him tightly, not knowing what to do. Blood slowly oozes out of the corner of her mouth. Anger seeds in the back of his mind: god help the next demon he comes across. Dante gently picks Mona up, an arm under her shoulders and one under her knees. Quickly, but very carefully, Dante carries her downstairs and out of the doors. Trish stands up and looks worried as he passes her. Nero already has the car out front and is honking his horn loudly.

After laying Mona in the backseat, he jerks Nero out of the drivers seat and gets in. before getting run over, Nero hops in back with Mona, placing her head in his lap. Tiny little seizures still wreck her body. Dante turns a corner sharply, forcing Nero to grab on to Mona, preventing her from falling to the floor.

"Where are we going?" Nero shouts.

"To see Doge." Dante turns another corner sharply.

"Dante…Dante!" Nero screams.

"What?" Dante snaps back: he doesn't have time for this. He needs to pay attention.

"She's not breathing," Nero says quietly, disbelieving.

~/~/~/~/~

_Mona slowly opens her eyes, looking up to a lilac colored sky. She tilts her head to the side, curious as to why the sky is the strange color. Carefully, Mona moves her hand, almost as if it's been asleep for too long. Warm and soft grass rubs against her hand, almost like a cat. A warm breeze blows across her skin, warming not only her flesh, but also her soul. _

_"My Stars, look how you've grown," a familiar voice muses from behind her._

_Mona sits up quickly and spins around. Tears swarm to her eyes as she views her grandmother in front of her. She's dressed in a light pink long sleeved dress with a v-neck. The skirt of the dress flows out at her feet, making it appear that she is wearing water when she walks. Her hair is braided, as it used to be, long and draped over her shoulder: delicate gold chains and feathers braided in with it._

_Mona stands up quickly and rushes towards her, the grass growing to her knees. She stops just in front of her loved one, afraid for a moment that it's simply another trick._

_"How I have missed you," her gran smiles as she speaks._

_"Gran? You're…How?" Mona looks around her surroundings and then back to her gran with fear. "Is this heaven? Am I…Am I dead?"_

_"Do you wish to be?"_

_Mona doesn't answer right away. Instead, she wraps her arms around her grandmother, hugging her tightly. It feels so good just to be held by her again. Gently, as she did when Mona was a child, Nizoni runs her fingers through her granddaughter's hair._

_"I don't know," Mona whispers._

~/~/~/~/~

Dante screeches to a halt fifteen minutes later in Doge's driveway. Nero picks Mona up and passes her out of the car to Dante. By the time Nero gets out of the car, Dante is kicking down the door to the warehouse. Mona's chest harshly pumps up and down, almost as if something is pushing on it.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you fuckbucket!" Doge screams out in a heavy Scottish accent.

"We need your help," Dante says as he places Mona on a table in the center of the room. Carefully he moves her arms to her side so they don't dangle off of the table.

"Oh, no. I know you did not bring this fucked up possessed bitch to my-"

"You watch what you fucking call her!" Nero screams as he starts to pull out his weapons.

"Kid, I will reem your ass six ways from Sunday. Your own mother wouldn't be able to recognize you when I'm done with you. Don't be stupid, put it away," Doge threatens as he crosses his arms.

"Dog, we don't have time for this. You fucking help her right now, or I swear to God, I will drag you into Satan's mouth myself," Dante growls as he stares down his friend.

"Fine. God dammit, Dante. This is the last fucking time," Doge grumbles as he pulls glasses out of his shirt pocket and puts them on. "Let's see who we're dealing with here."

"Don't you mean what?" Nero asks curiously.

"No, I mean who."

~/~/~/~/~

_Nizoni holds her granddaughter's hand as they walk along a crystal clear river._

_"What is this place?" Mona finally asks, breaking the comfortable silence._

_"The Inbetween. It's not hell, nor heaven, nor purgatory. Think of it as…the waiting room," Nizoni explains, nodding._

_"The waiting room?"_

_"Mm. For you to figure out what is going to happen to yourself."_

_"I can decide that?" Mona asks confused. She wasn't aware a person could choose to live or die. She just assumed that you either lived, or you died. _

_"Always. God is not cruel or unkind, darling. God himself would welcome Lucifer with open arms, if Lucifer would only ask for forgiveness," Nizoni speaks quietly and kindly._

_Mona walks with her gran in silence for quite sometime. The landscape changes from the river to a seascape, then finally, to a desert. Mona looks up from her feet, and sees a woman in the distance. Her dark skin is complimented perfectly by the turquoise skirt she's wearing, and the turquoise jewelry adorning her._

_"Is that my mother?" Mona asks, her voice barely a whisper._

_Nizoni smiles and pulls Mona closer. "No, Stars. That is my mother, that is Abi. _

~/~/~/~/~

"Why is she breathing like that?" Nero asks nervously.

"Kid, you've asked me the same questions for the last twenty minutes. I'm telling you, I don't know. I didn't know five minutes ago, and I don't know now. Go sit over there, you're bugging me," Doge grumbles out.

Dante sits quietly, and as still as a statue in the corner. His elbows rest on his knees, and his hands are folded under his chin, his fingers resting on his lips. On the surface, he is still as marble, but underneath, his thoughts race a mile a minute: each thought about Mona.

"She still has a pulse. It's faint, almost non-existent, but it's there. Has she always had these markings?" Doge asks as he looks at the patterns on her body.

"I just noticed them tonight," Dante states numbly.

"Before she kicked your ass through a wall?" Doge chuckles.

Dante doesn't reply, but simply closes his eyes. He can't help but to feel that this is all his fault. He should have protected her better, put up more barrier protections, something. Sighing, he leans back in the chair, and closes his eyes to his surroundings.

"What's this here?" Doge asks quietly to himself.

~/~/~/~/~

_Abigail smiles as she approaches her daughter and great-granddaughter. Mona can't help but to smile back at her ancestor. She is beautiful: her eyes look like Mona's. Abigail holds her arms out to Mona, pulling her hands in towards her. Mona lets go of her gran's hand, and walks into the open hug. Abigail feels warm against Mona's suddenly chilly skin. Mona makes note of how comforting she smells: vanilla, lilacs, and cloves._

_"Hello, child," Abigail says softly with a smile. Even the sound of her voice is enough to make Mona want to cry: it's soft and tender, like a mother's love._

_"Hello," Mona whispers. She feels like she's known this woman all her life, even though she's never met her before. _

_"As pretty as your grandmother." Abigail brings her soft hand up to Mona's cheek and strokes it softly. "If I would have known how beautiful you have grown to be, I would have not died at such a mediocre age."_

_Mona can't help but to laugh at her._

_"My daughter was right: you have a great destiny about you, my Stars." Abigail pauses as she looks Mona's face over. "A very great destiny."_

_"What is it?" Mona asks hesitantly. She's not sure if she wants to know what her destiny is. All she knows is so far, it's not looking so good._

_"I'm afraid I cannot tell you. People often think that their fate is already prescribed, and there is nothing you can do to change it. Those people are fools. Your fate, your destiny, is here," Abigail taps a finger above Mona's heart. "Your heart, it is a map. It keeps track of all things: love, fate, heartache, paths, thoughts. Everything is linked through to the heart. Your fate is in the stars, child. And stars can always be moved and rewritten to suit our needs."_

_"You once asked me, why I called you my Stars," Nizoni says softly beside Mona. "I tell you now, it is because the Stars are our loved ones. They guide us through our lives. They give us hope."_

_Mona can feel the tears rise in her eyes at her Gran's words._

_"God, is always watching us, Stars. He only throws at us, what we are strong enough to take. Even if we don't think we can take it." Abigail strokes Mona's hair softly as she speaks._

_"I don't believe in God," Mona says._

_"That's okay. He believes in you, Mona. We believe in you," Nizoni says as she takes her granddaughters hand._

_~/~/~/~/~/~_

"So you're telling me, that she preformed an exorcism on her self?" Nero asks dumbfounded.

"In a manner of speaking. I think this…Matrem bitch tried to possess her tonight. And she failed miserably. Mona is too strong for her in her current state," Doge explains as he roots about dark and dank cabinets for things.

"Her current state? Her current state is dead!" Nero shouts. This man is a quack, he thinks to himself.

"She ain't dead, you bag of bollocks. Not yet, at least." Doge pulls out a ruby encrusted blade and lays it on the table. "This one here is a fighter. I shall like to meet her if this doesn't kill her."

Nero resists the urge to beat the shit out of the man in front of him. He has to constantly remind himself now that this man is trying to save Mona. Nero needs him alive…for now. But when Mona makes it through this, he'll beat the shit out of him. Slowly, Nero reaches his hand out and takes hold of Mona's.

"Don't get sentimental on me now. She may not pull through this," Doge says softly and kindly.

~/~/~/~/~

_"It's time to go, my Stars," Nizoni whispers quietly._

_Mona looks up to her gran. She doesn't want to leave yet, she's not ready to make her choice yet. She feels lost and so very confused._

_"You have two options. You can stay here and move on, or, you can return and live. I will not lie to you, my Stars: you will suffer, undoubtedly. Though I give you this comfort: it is our suffering that makes us enjoy our happiness so much more," Abigail says to her great-granddaughter. "I'm afraid I must leave you now." Abigail hugs Mona tightly, her hand going to the back of her head. "I am honored that you wear my rosary."_

_Mona watches as her great-grandmother walks away from her and then disappears on the horizon. Slowly, she turns around and looks at Nizoni. Her gran smiles at her comfortingly, and takes her hands in hers._

_"I'm scared," Mona whimpers. It's the hardest truth she's ever had to admit._

_"It's okay to be scared, Stars. It's what you do in your fear that counts," Nizoni says kindly to her granddaughter. "You have a decision to make. Do you stay here, or do you go back?"_

_Mona looks around her: staying here is the better option._

~/~/~/~/~

Nero paces the floor quickly, his hands clasped behind his back, his head looking down at the notches in the wood. If he doesn't stop soon, he's going to wear holes in it. Slowly, light fills the dark room as the sun finally starts to rise up. Doge has been working on Mona for hours now: Nero lost track at twelve. Because at twelve hours, Dante fell asleep, and Nero lost track has he beat him up. How dare he sleep when the woman they were supposed to protect is dying in front of them?

"You two will want to see this," Doge says in a disbelieving tone.

Nero is on him in two seconds, crowding the space behind him. Dante is the slower in getting to Doge. He makes sure to stretch his sleepy muscles as he strides over to the table. Mona looks horrible lying there like a corpse. Her skin is starting to turn a sickly shade of gray, and her breathing is short and forced.

"What are we looking at?" Dante asks as he peers at a computer screen.

"That," Doge says as he points to a dark space on it.

Nero leans in closer to look at the screen, his nose only inches from it. Dante has a very hard time not shoving his face into it.

"Is that…No way," Nero denies in disbelief.

Dante whistles and crosses his arms. "Well, look at that. I can say I've never seen that before."

~/~/~/~/~

_"I want to go back," Mona whispers. "I want to go back," more forcefully this time. "I think I need to, Gran. Right now, that's where I belong," Mona tells herself more than her gran. _

_"Do you love these boys? The two with silver hair," Nizoni asks with a smile on her face and one eyebrow raised._

_Mona smiles as she looks up towards the sky._

_"And I have my answer," Nizoni chuckles at her granddaughter._

_Mona hides her smile from her gran. Then suddenly, very seriously asks, "Will you be with me?"_

_"I am always with you, my Stars. I love you more than a bird loves the sky."_

~/~/~/~/~

"Something's happening," Doge says as he watches Mona's breathing stop.

"Do something," Dante growls out the command.

"I am not a doctor, Dante. You should have-" Doge is cut off my Dante's hand on his throat.

" . If she dies, I'll figure out a way to kill you," Dante's threat does not fall on deaf ears.

"Fine. Go get me that little green vial," Doge grumbles.

Nero, ignoring the both of them, takes Mona's hand in his. He will apologize a thousand times over if she wake up.

~/~/~/~/~

_Without warning, Mona's lilac sky turns a deep shade of red and the grass turns into pitch-black thorns that cut into her skin. Her paradise is now her hell, and she knows just who turned it that way. Bracing herself, she raises her head up high and stands strong. She may be afraid, but she does not have to show it, least not to those who cause it. _

_Slowly, Matrem rises up out of the now blood red river. Her head is the first to come out of the water and her eyes remain closed until she's standing on top of the now violently moving water. Her white pointy teeth stand out strongly from her black scaley skin as she smiles. Mona struggles to remain where she is, when all she really wants to do is turn and run from her._

_"You must be strong, my Stars. You may feel fear, but you must not show it. This is no longer my place. I must leave you now. Remember what we have told you," Nizoni whispers into Mona's ear before she leaves._

_Matrem does not move from her place on the rushing water, her eyes never leave Mona's face. If Mona looks too long in them, she's certain she'll see her death. Matrem's face is hard, violent, and menacing. Mona can tell that her hands ache to be around her throat. Why hasn't she attacked her yet? Now would be her perfect chance to do it. Nero and Dante aren't around to protect her: she's defenseless. Then it hits her._

"_You can't touch me, can you?" Mona questions Matrem, trying to hide the smirk on her face. "That's why you need the others isn't it? You can't touch me! And you can't possess other people like they can, because I'm the only one that you can possess… But why haven't you been able too?"_

_"Oh I did, foolish girl. Tonight, when you were at the dance studio, with a little help. I even had to do something as disgusting as kiss that half-breed. I would have had his gun in my hand had you not insisted on fighting me inside the puny little head of yours," Matrem hisses._

_"Why can't you possess me?" Mona asks in a demanding tone. "Why! Is it because I'm too strong for you?" Mona asks with a smile._

_"You are not stronger than I! You are sheep!" Matrem screams so loudly, Mona has to cover her ears._

_"You're awfully defensive about it," Mona states as she walks closer to Matrem. "You're too weak to possess me. Here I thought I should be afraid of you, and you're too weak to even touch me. It would have killed you, wouldn't it have? Staying in me would have killed you because I'm still too strong for you," Mona explains to herself with satisfaction._

_"One day they won't be able to protect you," Matrem hisses hoarsely._

_"No, you're right. But when that day comes, I'll be able to protect myself."_

~/~/~/~/~

Nero jumps when Mona jerks straight up on the table, Dante curses and reaches for his gun on his hip, and Doge just gives a satisfied smile.

Mona turns and looks at Nero, horror on her face. "She's here," she croaks out.

Dante straightens, his hand pulling out his weapon. That's just perfect, he thinks to himself. He knows in the back of his head that Doge doesn't have barriers on this place: meaning they're completely vulnerable. Somehow, he thinks that was all Matrem's plan. Now he feels incredibly stupid for bringing her here.

Nero swallows and looks to Doge. "You're going to want to start putting barriers up. Or arming yourself. It's only a matter of time n-"

Mona's scream is harsh enough to shatter windows. Doge covers his ears and curses.

"I'm getting fucking tried of this shit, Dante! What the fuck is the matter with her?" Doge screams over Mona.

Nero grabs Mona and holds her tightly to him. Her scream of pain is enough to make him want to vomit. Dante grabs Mona's arm long enough to hold it still. Where the black markings are, black scales start to push through her skin. Mona grabs onto Nero's arms around her chest, and cries. Doge looks at the markings on her stomach, his fingers reach out and trace along the scales. Quickly, he jerks his hand back when he gets cut. Dante looks over at his bleeding friend and furrows his brow.

"Make it stop!" Mona yells. She feels like she's on fire. Not to mention the scales coming through puts her in unimaginable pain.

Mona wants to vomit as she watches her skin fall away bloody and in patches where the scales are coming in. She is instantly reminded of the way Matrem's skin looks. Horror washes over her: she is becoming Matrem.


	12. Chapter 12

Rain slams against the windowpanes violently, shaking them in their holding. Mona lays curled on her side, her hands clenched into fists in front of her chest. Her breathing is slow and she seems to struggle with it. The new scales shine even in the dull light of the room. Mona has been sleeping for two days, and for two days it's been storming.

Nero sits quietly in a giant leather chair: his eyes never leaving Mona's body. He's not slept since the night she nearly died. As a result, his eyes are red and puffy, and dark circles mar the skin under his eyes. A deep scruff seeds up from his jaw and makes his face itch. It bothers him that there haven't been any attacks made on her yet. Normally by now they've killed at least a dozen demons and monsters, but nothing yet. It makes him nervous and he hates being nervous: it makes him feel weak. And the face in Mona's body scan helps to keep his mind occupied as well. Doge still isn't able to tell them exactly what it is, although they all suspect it's Matrem. Nero's mind races with how she could have gotten to Mona. The ballet studio keeps making an appearance in his deductions, and he can't help but to think that it's probably the place.

Mona's quiet whimper jerks Nero out of his thoughts. She curls up tighter as she cries, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Nero," she gasps.

Nero moves quickly out of his chair and kneels next to the bed. His hand reaches out and brushes hair off of Mona's face; her skin is so hot, it feels like it's on fire. Her hand reaches out and grabs his in a light grip. His eyes find hers in the darkness, and he gives her a small smile. She returns it, only to have it replaced with a grimace. Nero returns to his usual frown as of late. It's like she's been in constant pain for the last two or three days. Softly, Nero slides her over to the middle of the bed and gets in beside her. Within seconds Mona has her arms wrapped around his waist, and her head in his chest. Nero lets his hand stroke her back comfortingly, lulling her back to sleep.

~/~/~/~

Dante continues to make his rounds on the outside of the house. Trish, Nero, and his-self decided that it would be a good idea to put up protection spells twice a day. Both Nero and Trish decided that today, it would be Dante's job to put up the spells. So, here he stands in the cold rain putting up protection spells. He does it without verbalizing his annoyance only because he's grown fond of Mona. Dante makes note to call Doge later and find out if he's discovered anything new for him.

Trish has been scanning ancient texts and religious works trying to find any mention of this Matrem, but so far, nothing she's not made an appearance in them. She certainly seems powerful enough to be at least mentioned once. Especially considering how old she has to be. If she knows Sitri, she has to be extremely well connected in the realm of demons, not to mention powerful. Still, Dante can't figure out for the life of him, why she would pick Mona. Normally, the ones who are troubled by the kind of thing are the ones who have serious enemies, or they're very devote and pure in their beliefs. As far as Dante can tell, Mona is an atheist. In fact, he's pretty sure he remembers her telling him that she was an atheist. Then again, that might have all changed by now. It wouldn't shock him if Mona has become a devote Christian. Thunder claps loudly over his head, making him grumble under his breath. Calling it quits, Dante trudges back inside the warm office.

~/~/~/~

With slow determination, Mona forces her eyes open. The two lids don't seem to want to separate from each other. Her body feels numb now since the pain has stopped. It still rains harshly outside, but now it does so by moonlight. Mona wiggles backwards, pressing herself closer to the sleeping Nero next to her. His chest feels pleasantly warm against her chilled back. His arms feel heavy around her waist, holding her down to earth. Now that her fever has broken she's freezing.

"Good evening," Dante whispers quietly.

Mona gives him a smile, trying to comfort him. She pats the side of the bed in front of her. With a sigh, Dante gets up from his seat by the window. Mona stops him before he can get in.

"Coat, boots, and guns off please." She stares him down until he complies with a sigh.

Dante tosses his coat on the chair. His guns he keeps on the nightstand beside the bed. Dante plops his body down on the bed, jostling the other two on it, before he starts taking off his boots. Mona lets her eyes roam over his back, taking notes on the little silver scars. Dante finally spins around before he lies down beside Mona. Her hand reaches out and takes his lightly and it feels warm. It always feels warm. That's one of the things Mona loves about these boys: they are always warm, even if they've been out in the cold for hours.

"How long have I been out?" she questions quietly.

"About three days. Going on four right now," Dante answers while looking at her.

"I'm sorry I keep trying to kill you," Mona whispers as she pulls Dante closer.

When he's close enough to her, she puts her face into his chest and one of her arms over his waist.

"I'm used to it. People are always trying to kill me. How much do you remember?"

"Enough," she mumbles. "I kept…I kept screaming in my head. I knew what was going on, what was happening to me, but," Mona trails off.

Dante lets out a long and heavy sigh. His lips gently place a kiss on her forehead.

"I know what she wants," Mona begins, but Dante cuts her off.

"Let's not do this right now. It's three in the morning, and you need sleep."

"I've been asleep, Dante. I don't want to sleep anymore," Mona can't help but to snap at him. "She can't possess me right now. She tried, and I think it nearly killed us both. That's why the others are coming for me. She's getting them to break me down, to make me weaker. I don't know why she wants me, but she does. I think…Dante, I think I'm the only one she can possess. I think I'm the only one strong enough to hold her or destroy her." Mona avoids looking at his face when she speaks.

Dante slides an arm under Mona's head and scoots even closer to her still. Mona feels Nero's arms tighten around her waist and his breath stirring the hair on her head.

"She's going to try and hurt you two, Dante…She knows I love you."

"She can try," Nero answers from behind her. Mona was not aware that he was awake. "Dante's like a cockroach. It's going to take an atomic bomb to kill him."

"And Nero's stubborn as a pit stain on the world's white shirt. Not to mention he's not as pretty as me," Dante says with a nod.

Mona gives a weak laugh and places her forehead back on Dante's chest.


	13. Chapter 13

Bam!

So this chapter took me a bit of time to write. If you notice any mistakes, please let me know. I went through it, but people miss things. Enjoy!

* * *

Mona stands, in matching pink lace underwear and bra, facing the mirror, looking herself over. A frown is on her face once again- she's beginning to think it's permanent. Her eyes trace the scales on her body, turning from left to right as she follows the lines. Her skin doesn't even feel like it belongs to her anymore: especially now that parts of it look like Matrem's skin. Her fingers lightly trace the scales now growing on her flesh. She feels like crying when she recognizes the hindrance these will put on her dancing. She can't wear a tank-top with these: people will notice them. Honestly she feels like breaking something. Mona looks up from her scrutinizing gaze at her body, and sees Nero's reflection in the mirror.

"I feel so hideous," she whispers quietly.

Nero closes the open door behind him and walks over to her. His boots make a nearly unbearably loud pounding on the floor. For once, his coat is off his shoulders: Mona is surprised to see they're just as broad without the coat on. She knows that she should be embarrassed that she's in her underwear in front of him, but for some reason, she's strangely comfortable with it.

"You aren't hideous," Nero grumbles.

"I have scales," Mona snaps at him. She doesn't mean to be angry with him, but she just feels so upset. He's only trying to help, she knows, and that only makes her feel more remorse for losing her temper.

"Body enhancements," he whispers.

Mona tries to ignore the husky tone his voice has taken on. She watches him in the mirror as he walks closer and closer to her: he reminds her of a cat stalking a mouse. She swallows and licks her lips slowly when he kicks his boots off. Mona's certain he can hear her heart and her breathing from where he stands. She shouldn't do this, she thinks to herself only for a brief second before Nero places his hands on her arms. He catches Mona's eyes in the mirror and smiles at her wickedly. Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he leans down and places a kiss on her dark skin. Nero moves a bra strap off of her shoulder and kisses the place where it was. Painfully slow, he moves his light kisses to her neck. She tilts her head further over to give him more area to cover. Eyes still locked, Nero bites her neck softly, smiling at the noise she makes. She tastes like mint and sugar: it could be that handmade sugar scrub she uses all the time. His hands slide down her arms, creating a marvelous friction, before they rest heavily on her hips, and he digs his fingers into her flesh there. He has to resist the urge to chuckle at her sharp gasp.

Mona drops herself back against him, her knees shaking from his maneuvers. She whispers his name in a breathy moan, surprised at the sound and how good it sounds coming from her lips. His hands are firm against her hips and firmer still when they move down to her quaking thighs. Normally, this much eye contact would turn her off in a heartbeat, but somehow, it only turns her on more. Mona lets out a sharp breath when Nero grinds the ball of his right hand into her sex: devil bringer, he calls it. _Well tonight, I'm going to call it pleasure bringer_, Mona thinks to herself. Mona breathes in deeply through her nose and mouth: Nero's smell surrounds her as it always does.

"Tell me something," Nero whispers against her neck before he nips at her jaw. "If I found you disgusting, would I really be doing this? Would I be wanting to be in you so desperately?"

Mona shakes her head no and tries to reach around to kiss him.

"Watch what I'm doing, Mona. Look at my hand," he commands her gently. Only when Mona looks at his hand pushing against her sex does he continue. "You can't tell me it doesn't feel good against you, grinding into you. It's the same as your scales, Mona. And yet look how much pleasure it's bringing you." His voice is gruff and nearly dripping with sex appeal. "Keep watching, Mona."

Mona lets out a shuddering breath when Nero slides the fingers on his devil bringer down through the top of her underwear. The fingers feel strange, but at the same time extremely pleasing against her. She can't help but to close her eyes to the world when Nero's fingers lightly rub against her. A low groan drops out of her throat when Nero's other hand grabs her breast through her bra and squeezes it. His moan fills her ears and with a smile on her face, she grinds her hips back into him. A sharp gasp is elicited from Mona's lips when Nero pushes his thumb against her clit. Mona struggles to keep standing: she spreads her legs open wider and rolls her hips onto Nero's thumb. He answers her unspoken plea by slowly and harshly rubbing is thumb up and down over her clit. Mona reaches her arm over her shoulder and grabs a hold of Nero's hair. Her other hand grabs the wrist on his devil bringer tightly.

"Oh, God, Nero." Mona drops her head back as she croaks his name.

"No, not God. God's not this good," Nero explains nonchalantly.

Mona laughs at his boast and Nero can't help but smile.

"You need to go faster," Mona commands him through an open mouth.

"What if I don't want to go faster, Mona? Maybe I want to tease you." His mouth moves to her neck once more where he nips her again.

Mona opens her eyes and looks at him in the mirror. "Please?" she begs with a thrust of her hips.

Feeling generous, Nero moves his thumb quicker over her clit. He can't help but groan as he feels her muscles spasm around his hand: her fingernails dig sharply into his wrist. Knowing she must be close to her orgasm, Nero slows and lightens the pressure of his thumb. His smile grows at the sound of her desperate and displeasured whimper.

"Didn't think it would be that easy did you?" Nero asks teasingly.

Feeling her orgasm slip away from her, Mona chooses to press herself down harder on his thumb, and grind her hips. Nero pulls his thumb away from her clit almost completely. Angry, Mona pulls her hand away from his hair, lowers it, reaches behind her, and grabs onto his dick forcefully. She squeezes it in her hand, laughing when Nero curses. Two can play at this game, and Moan is certain she'll win. Her eyes, laughing, meet his in the mirror and she smiles innocently at him. With a primal growl, Nero pulls his thumb and fingers out of her, grabs her wrists and holds them behind her back. With one hand, he holds them tightly behind her. Nero leans forward and finds Mona's lips on her turned head. The two laugh when Nero bumps his forehead against hers while trying to kiss her passionately.

"Sorry," he whispers against her smiling lips.

"It's okay." Her hips grind once more against him, reminding him of the job at hand.

Needing no further incentive, Nero plunges his thumb into her once more. Mona's hands push and pull against the hand holding her wrists behind her. Nero's thumb almost violently picks up the pace: his cock throbs ruthlessly in his jeans and he wants to be in her as quickly as possible. Mona's whimpers and mewls become more frequent and desperate, mimicking the spasms inside her.

"Think I should push you over, Mona? You've got to be right there, right?" Nero asks in her ear.

Mona opens her eyes and looks at Nero in the mirror again: his face is flushed, his eyes a darker blue than normal, his mouth is open just slightly. Her own face is just as flushed, her mouth completely open, her back his arched into him, and her hips are thrust forward onto his hand. She lowers her eyes to where his hand disappears beneath her underwear and groans loudly. Desperately, Nero quickens the pace of his thumb. With a breathy scream, Mona caves around him. The ache deepens with her orgasm and her knees give out against the pleasure. Quickly, Nero lets go of her wrists and wraps the arm around her waist, holding her up. He keeps his thumb moving against her clit though, keeping her orgasm going almost painfully. Mona's whimpers mix with Nero's husky breaths as he continues to pleasure her. "Please" escapes from her mouth in a mantra. Mona doesn't know if she's begging him to stop or continue.

Finally, Nero pulls his hand away from her, and hugs her tightly to him. His bulge presses into her ass that she insists on grinding into him.

"Give me…Give me…" Mona struggles.

"More?" Nero asks with a smile.

Mona laughs and lays her head back on his shoulder. "Give me two minutes. Just two. I get a little sensitive and if I keep going, there's no pleasure in it," she explains.

Nero nods and scoops her up in his arms. Gently, he lays her down on the bed before backing away. Mona licks her lips as she lets out a heavy breath. She sits up and swings her legs over the edge of the bed. Nero has already shed his shirt and is working on the button of his jeans.

"Could you like, go any slower?" Mona teases him as she watches his fingers fumble.

"Are you giving me lip?"

"I'll give you more than lip if you hurry your ass up," Mona explains with a wink.

Mona unfastens her bra before she tosses it into a corner of her room. Her underwear are next, after being unceremoniously taken off. Nero finally manages to shimmy his jeans and boxers off and stands before Mona. He starts to sexily walk over to the bed, but he slips on his discarded socks, and falls harshly onto the bed. In the fall, Mona's knee connects with Nero's nose. He groans loudly before rolling to the side and gripping his face.

"Oh! Oh my God," Mona shrieks through her laughter. "Are you okay? Oh God, baby." Mona struggles not to laugh at the youngest of the demon hunters.

"S'not funny," he grumbles as he continues to hold his nose.

Mona straddles his hips and leans down to place a kiss on his hands. "Le'me see," she demands gently. Nero moves his hands to reveal an undamaged nose. "Se, you're fine."

Mona kisses his lips gently, careful not to bump his, probably sore, nose. Nero leans his head up to deepen the kiss. His hands find their way to her soft hips again: he likes the way his skin looks against hers. Mona slides herself back and forth across his member, smiling when he groans deeply and throws his head back.

"You're not the only one that can tease." Mona slides her hands up his abs and to his chest where she pinches his nipples lightly.

Nero takes in a sharp breath and bucks his hips against Mona. She shudders at his hardness and bucks back.

"Condom?" Mona asks between the kisses that she places on his chest.

Nero gropes at his nightstand drawer until he manages to pull one out. Mona takes it from his fingers and rips the foil open.

"Green huh?" she asks him smiling. "Saint Paddy's day was like a month ago bud."

"No, green because I have a hulk like penis," he says with a chuckle.

Mona places her head on his chest and laughs. Nero chuckles along with her, his chest shaking them both. Still chuckling, Mona puts the condom on him. Nero looks up at the girl above him with a smile on his face. He starts to say her name, but it turns into a low moan when grabs him and slides him into her.

"Fuck," he mutters, gripping her slow moving hips.

"Precisely," she whispers before she kisses him deeply.

Mona places her hands on either side of his head while she moves up and down on him; Nero mimics her moans and gasps. He let's out a deeper moan when Mona performs a kegle squeeze. Mona thinks back to her past exploits and makes the decision that Nero is perhaps the biggest she's been with. Certainly he's the most responsive. It's nice to hear his moans and know that she's the one causing them. Her thoughts are interrupted when Nero leans up and takes a nipple into his mouth. Mona lets out a harsher mewl when Nero gently bites it. Nero can feel himself nearing his own completion, but refuses to finish first. Quickly, he reaches his devil bringer between their two bodies, and starts playing with Mona's clit roughly. Mona quickens her pace so it's hard and fast. The sound of flesh hitting flesh is accompanied by the couples moans and gasps.

Mona cries out at his touch on her clit: it's just on the cusp of being painful without actually hurting her. Nero bites down on her nipple one last time before he switches to the other side. Mona let's out a loud mewl, and hopes to God that Dante and Trish aren't home right now. Nero fights off his orgasm, wanting to make Mona come first. Mona can feel herself ready to topple into her orgasm, and tries desperately to reach it. She's almost there, but she just can't get there: it frustrates her deeply. _This is absolutely ridiculous_, she thinks to herself. Nero looks up again and sees Mona's face contorted into desperation.

Nero harshly takes Mona's clit between his thumb and finger, and pinches it. It is just the push that Mona needs. She cries out loudly, and Nero pulls her face down to his and kisses her, trying desperately to try and muffle her cry. With a groan, Nero finally lets himself come inside her spasming walls. Mona rides out both of their orgasms, kissing Nero desperately, trying to force some of her pleasure on to him. It's been a while since she's had an orgasm as great as this one.

Finally, Nero slips himself out of Mona, takes the condom off, and deposits it in the trash beside the bed. Mona lays sprawled out on her back, her chest rising and falling quickly. Nero rolls back over and pulls her sweaty body against his own. Mona curls into him, her eyes closing softly and she breathes him in. He smells like sex, sweat, and cologne: a good smell.

"Did you do all that so I wouldn't feel hideous?" Mona asks after she catches her breath.

"No," Nero answers, "I did all that because I needed you and you needed me. We both needed that release." Nero kisses Mona's sweaty forehead. "Besides, had been thinking about doing that since I found out you thought about giving me a blowjob and thought about how my hand would feel between your legs."

Mona laughs and lightly punches his shoulder. "That was mortifying. And you didn't help the situation."

"I'm sorry. I'm an asshole…Did you like it?"

"Don't ask stupid questions." Mona leans up and kisses him on his lips once more. "We're going to nap, and then we're going to take a shower, because we are covered in sweat and spit."

Nero chuckles and throws a leg over Mona's.


End file.
